


Your Grief is My Grief

by sxctumsempra



Series: Beauty and the Beast [DM] [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts Sixth Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2018-11-23 03:58:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 65,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11394885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxctumsempra/pseuds/sxctumsempra
Summary: Lizzie Samuels and Draco Malfoy, having finally admitted their feelings for each other, continue through their education at Hogwarts into their sixth year. Lizzie's father has handed her over to Voldemort, trading his only daughter for respect among the Death Eaters, and Lizzie is assigned to Draco's task. The two of them fight for their lives, surrounded on every side by people who would kill them if they found out their dark secret.[Sequel to 'Beauty and the Beast']





	1. Chapter 1

Lizzie’s POV:

“Get it off!” I screeched at the top of my lungs, sitting on Draco Malfoy’s bed in his bedroom at Malfoy Manor and clawing at my newly acquired tattoo. Hot tears ran down my face and dripped from my chin to my hands. My fingernails, as short as they were, dug into my skin, peeling off layers of skin and even drawing some blood. My breathing spiraled out of control as I rocked back and forth crying hysterically. “Please! I want it gone!” 

“Liz,” Draco whispered with a tone of pity, guilt, and love, attempting to calm me down. “It won’t come off. Believe me, I’ve tried everything.” He wrapped his muscular arms around my shaking form and held me close; so close that I could feel his heartbeat through our clothing. I continued to scratch at the Dark Mark on my forearm despite his protests causing long, angry red marks to appear with every swipe of my hand. 

“H-how can one man be so cruel?” 

“I know, I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” Draco murmured, gripping both of my hands tightly in his to stop me from scraping my arm up any further. I tried to pull them back to persist attempting to remove the ink from my body that bound me to Voldemort, but Draco was stronger than me and held them fast. “I dragged you into this and I am so sorry.” I wanted to be comforted by his words, but I was too upset for them to take hold within me. “I never wanted any of this to happen.”

“It’s not your fault,” I sobbed. “It’s not. It’s his. It’s h-his fault and I’m going to kill him for it. He thinks t-that he can leave my family all alone for sixteen bloody years and then give me away like I was his in the first place?” I felt the hate for my father boil up inside of my stomach and bubble through my veins. The image of his face as he handed me over to Voldemort was one that would fuel my anger for years to come. I don’t think I would ever forgive him for this. No. I knew that I would never forgive him. He had caused me irreversible pain that would scar me until the day I died, so I would hate him until the day I died.

My father had left my mum to care for two small children by herself after I was born, and just today, he gave me and my future to the darkest wizard to ever walk this planet. How could he do that to his own daughter? Not that I’d claim him as anything more than a dirty, rotten bastard who just happened to have made me.

“And he wants us to kill someone? He w-wants us to end someone’s life? And not just anyone, but Albus fucking Dumbledore who could kill us with a twitch of his finger. Draco, h-how are we going to do this?” I managed to squeeze all of this out between desperate breaths of air. I felt as if I were drowning on land, the air being sucked from my lungs.

“I don’t know, love, but we’re going to get through this safely. I’ll swear my life on it. I will not let anything happen to you if it’s the last thing I do,” he spoke softly, placing a hand under my chin and lifting my head to force me to look at him. My watery eyes met his and I felt my heart explode with love for this man sitting in front of me. The hate bubbling in my stomach turned to butterflies with just one look at Draco. 

His silvery eyes were full of guilt and shame as he stared back at me. My lip quivered and my eyes began to leak even more as I threw my arms around his shoulders. “I love you, Draco,” I wheezed.

“I love you too, Liz.” His arms made their way around my body once more and we sat there for quite a while, me blubbering and him rubbing circles on my back.

By the time my body-racking sobs had switched to body-racking hiccups, the sun outside had begun to set, casting a slanted shadow across the room and filling the rest with an orange glow. 

“What am I - supposed to - do? My mum can’t - f-find out. It would - crush - her that my father - did this - to me, and my - brother can’t find - out because he would - disown me,” I gasped between hiccups. I pulled back from our hug and rubbed my face, trying to wipe away stray tears and any redness that might have stuck around. Though I’m sure I only made my face redder.

“Stay. Stay here with me until school starts,” he suggested in a voice so quiet I almost didn’t hear it. “I’ll keep you safe.” His slender, right hand moved to my cheek and cradled my face. I placed my left hand over his right and leaned into his touch.

“Okay.” It wasn’t going to do me well to run from my problems, but I was so weak, so tired, and so terrified that that was all I could do at that moment. My mother would be extremely worried when I didn’t return that night, but I figured that not coming home would be better than learning I would be working for Lord Voldemort. 

“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he told me with a small shake of his head. I managed a small smile at his reassuring words.

I decided to take advantage of the silence that suddenly encased us. “Draco? Why didn’t you answer any of my letters?”

His hand dropped from my face and he held my hands in his again. “I thought that if I stopped speaking to you, you would let me go and I wouldn’t end up bringing you into a mess like this, but look where that got me...” He trailed off his last sentence and looked away with regret.

“I wrote so many letters this summer, and nobody answered. Not one. Most of the letters were to you, but I also wrote Hermione and - Harry…” I looked at Draco in horror. “Harry, oh Merlin. We can’t let Harry find out about this. He would never speak to me again.” I felt my eyes begin to well with tears again. Even though Harry had been nothing but rude to me since he had kissed me and hadn’t returned any of my letters, I still felt more than guilty about what had happened.

“You can be sure I won’t tell him,” Draco replied with a stony expression written across his face. 

We once again became caught under the spell of a slightly uncomfortable silence as we sat there on his bed studying each other closely. 

Over the summer, Draco had changed significantly. His old, longer, blonde hair that had hung in front of his forehead the previous time I had saw him had been cut and swooped to the side, making him appear older. In addition to his new hairstyle, his face had hollowed out somewhat due to lack of sleep and food, bringing out the deep-set of his eyes and the dark bags that had formed. His jawline had become more defined than I had ever known it to be. There was no denying it. Draco had matured incomparably. Physically and emotionally.

“Are you tired?” He broke the silence with a whisper, his eyes switching between both of mine.

“Exhausted,” I answered him with an equally as quiet voice. All of the crying from today had rendered me weak and tired.

“Alright.” Draco stood and retrieved a white shirt, handing it to me carefully. “You can wear this.” I quickly began to remove my clothes, folding them and placing them on his bedside table. 

I watched Draco change after I had finished. He removed his suit with nimble hands, pulling his jacket off and hanging it in his wardrobe, then undoing his tie. His long, slender fingers then began to work at the buttons on his shirt. He slid it off of his shoulders and neatly hung it beside his jacket. I admired the way his muscles rippled beneath his pale skin. Though he had lost a bit of weight in the last few months, his muscles remained fully intact and fully attractive.

He unbuttoned his trousers and slipped his legs out. I felt my cheeks redden as my eyes fell on his green boxers. As he carefully folded his trousers in half, he glanced over his shoulder to see me watching him. My face temperature rose considerably at being caught.

“Like what you see?” he asked softly with a cheeky grin. I bit my lip in embarrassment while he chuckled.

When we were both changed from our day clothes, we crawled into Draco’s bed, making a silent agreement that I was to sleep with him.

“Lizzie, we’re going to get through this,” Draco spoke to me, wrapping his arms around me. And at that moment, I believed him.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco's POV:

I woke to movement beside me, pulling me from my surprisingly peaceful sleep despite the happenings of the previous day. I felt safe here with Lizzie, like by protecting her, I was protecting myself.

I noted that for the first time that summer, I had slept soundly. Every other night that summer had been spent sleepless or in a shallow sleep haunted by nightmares that left me trembling. I had learned how to navigate my house with silent feet during the nights I spent awake, exploring in the dark.

The sunlight was shining through the open curtains and lighting the room up with a bright light. The air around me felt relaxed and, dare I say, happy. My left arm was draped over Liz’s waist and she lay snuggled up into my chest, her warmth mixing with mine and keeping us both warm. I could feel her warm breath on my chest, sending shivers down my spine. Her deep grey eyes were opened and staring up at me. I could tell by the size of the bags already under her eyes that she hadn’t slept much, and that thought made my heart constrict. 

“Good morning,” she whispered with a shy smile, revealing a bit of her beautifully slightly crooked, shining teeth. Even though she had only whispered the two words to me, her voice sounded strained and gravelly, causing my heart to constrict further, if possible.

“Morning,” I sighed in return, stretching my body. “How’d you sleep?” I knew the truth but wanted to see what she would say.

“Not too well,” she frowned, “I felt nauseous most of the night.” I used my left hand to brush the hair out of her face and then placed it on the side of her neck. The tips of my fingers rested in her soft hair that had become slightly tangled from all the tossing and turning she must have done.

“I felt like that for a few days after too,” I told her quietly. I didn’t mention the fact that I had thrown up at my feet about five minutes after my meeting with the Dark Lord.

“Will we ever be okay?” she asked suddenly, a look of hidden terror written on her face, and once again I felt the extreme guilt writhe its way into my mind. It was my fault she was here and in this position. If I hadn’t had let her wiggle her way into my heart, she would never had to receive the Dark Mark.

“Someday we will,” I replied, stroking her cheek with my thumb. Her skin was warm against my cool palm.

“How long will ‘someday’ take?” she whispered. 

“I’m not sure, love,” I answered her guiltily, “but I’ll make sure you get there okay.” She smiled at me with her pink lips pursed and lifted at the corners.

“I love you, Draco, you know that, right?” she asked me, lifting her hand and placing it upon mine which was still resting on her neck. Her finger found their way between mine and squeezed. I curled mine against hers and swiped my tongue across my lips.

“I do. And you know that I love you just as much if not more, correct?” 

“I do,” she repeated me, closing her eyes and burying her face in the space between my chest and the bed. I could feel her warm breath against my skin once again.

My mind went to the previous day and I thought of everything that I should have done. I should have made Lizzie leave the first chance I got instead of staying silent. I should have done my duty to protect her. It’s what I’m supposed to do. I wished that I had saved her from this fate. Screamed, shouted, throw curses. Anything. Something. 

I don’t know how long we would have stayed like that had Lizzie’s stomach not grolwed. It filled the silent room with a noise sounding quite like one a whale would make. A smile stretched across my face as Liz buried her face further into the sheets.

“Are you hungry?” I asked her cheekily.

“My stomach made that pretty obvious, didn’t it?” her muffled voice replied.

“Well, I’m sure you remember our house elves from the Christmas holiday?” I suppressed a laugh as I recalled her reaction to the apparation and disapparation sounds. She groaned and rolled over in bed, staring up at the ceiling above us.

“How could I forget?” she deadpanned. She brushed the hair from her face and turned her head to look at me. 

“Want me to call her?” I asked.

“I’m not getting out of bed, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Alright, brace yourself.” I wrapped my arms tightly around Liz and squeezed her form to me before calling clearly, “Winny.”

Even though I had warned her, she still jumped when Winny apparated into the room with a resounding crack. “Breakfast.” She was wearing her old, yellow pillowcase with embroidered flowers on it.

“What would Master Malfoy and Miss Lizzie like?” Winny squeaked to us, wringing her tiny hands in front of us and gazing at us as if we would turn into dragons. I looked to Liz expectantly.

“Could I have pineapple, please?” Lizzie asked sweetly. I quirked my eyebrow at her and addressed Winny.

“Toast and pineapple, Winny,” I spoke, knowing that Liz and I wouldn’t be able to down too much. The elf nodded and disapparated with a loud crack, making Lizzie jump once again. 

She looked up at me and noticed my odd expression. “What?” She squirmed a bit, indicating that she wanted to sit up.

“You’re so kind, even to creatures like house elves,” I pointed out, loosening my grip around her so she could push herself up. I sat up beside her and ran a hand through my hair.

“What’s so odd about that?” she poked right back with a bit of an attitude. Always so sassy...

“Well, I mean they’re house elves-”

“Now you stop right there,” she cut me off, “You know how I feel about stuff like that.” It was true, I knew where she stood on topics like that, but I still wanted to know her answer.

“Yes, I know, but why?” I pushed.

“They’ve got hearts, right?” 

“I suppose so…”

“And so have we. They have brains right? And blood and eyes and ears?” she continued. I frowned but listened to her ramble on. “I’m just saying that they are just as much human as we are, physically and mentally, and deserve to be treated like it. Not like slaves.” 

“But th-” I was interrupted by Winny’s apparation back into the room with a silver platter. “Right here, Winny. Please.” I added the last word after thinking about Lizzie’s words. Winny silently placed the platter on the bed by me and Lizzie. 

On top of the platter was a plate stacked with a few pieces of golden toast that were still steaming and two bowls filled with sweet smelling pineapple chunks. I lifted one of the silver forks and one of the pineapple bowls to hand them to Liz. She graciously accepted them as I picked up a slice of toast and took a small bite at the corner. Truthfully, I wasn’t hungry, but I ate so Liz would eat as well.

“So why pineapple?” I asked her curiously, gesturing to the bowl in her hands. She looked down and suppressed a small smile, as if she were reminiscing on something funny.

“I’m not sure,” she chuckled.

“Have I ever told you that you’re a terrible liar?” I told her before taking another bite of my toast. It crunched loudly in the quiet room and spilled crumbs down onto the bed.

“I am not.” She looked up at me in outrage.

“You are,” I argued. “Your nose twitches. It’s rather cute, but it makes all of your lies inadequate. So why pineapple?”

“Well, there was this one day in the hospital wing when I was in the coma that all I could think about was pineapple and I’ve been craving it ever since. It’s easily my favorite fruit.” She gently touched her nose with the tips of her fingers self-consciously.

“That’s odd,” I quirked back. She nodded and placed a bite of the fruit into her mouth. I watched her chew for a moment. She had pulled her hair over one shoulder where it rested in slight waves. 

We sat there pretending to eat for a little while as it slowly became obvious to each other that neither of us wanted to eat. I had managed to finish my piece of toast, but it felt as if it were stuck in my throat choking me. Liz had finished about half of her pineapple before she placed the rest back on the platter. She rubbed her hands together and took a deep breath.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked her randomly. She was startled by my question but answered it all the same.

“Purple, but like a light purple. Sort of lavender. What’s yours?”

“Green,” I replied, moving myself closer to her on the bed and grasping her hand in mine. Her fingers were warm compared to mine, which were cold as ice.

“Like Slytherin green?” she asked curiously as she looked down at our hands.

“Kind of. A dark, emerald green,” I explained, picturing the color in my mind.

“Oh,” she murmured. “Isn’t it odd that we’ve been best friends since first year and we didn’t know each other’s favorite color?”

“I could’ve sworn we talked about it at some point,” I pondered. As I said those words, her face lost its color as fast as if a lightswitch had been flipped and her expression twisted up. “Or we didn’t,” I added quickly. 

Suddenly, she leapt off of the bed and dashed across my bedroom to the loo in a few strides. She threw the door open and disappeared from my sight. 

“Liz?” I called after her, following her cautiously. She was on her knees in front of the toilet, vomiting up the little bit of breakfast she had actually eaten. “Oh, Liz.” I walked up behind her and kneeled beside her. Gathering all of her hair in my right hand, I rubbed her back with my left while whispering soothing words to her.

I let her heave until she stopped and sat down, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Sorry, that’s so embarrassing.”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” I told her firmly.

“Sorry,” she muttered, looking down at the floor. I frowned at her apology but said nothing about it.

“After You-Know-Who apparated away,” I began, thinking Liz could use some cheering up right now, “I threw up where he had been standing on the day he had given me the Dark Mark.” My eyes automatically darted to my left forearm, where the black ink was. 

“You did?” she asked with a hint of humor in her voice, as she looked up at me. Her eye had a dull twinkle in it, as if it was there, but buried under loads of pain.

“I sure did. I’m surprised I had actually held it in that long, the bile had been sitting in my throat the entire time I was in his presence.” My mind wanted to think back to the day but I blocked the memory because it made me want to vomit all over again.

She remained silent, but drew her left forearm to her chest after examining it for a second. Seeing the Dark Mark on her skin killed me. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed them with my forefinger and thumb.

“Draco?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Hmm?” I hummed in response. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was still cradling her left arm but her eyes were on me now.

“You’ll stay with me?” she whispered. I was a bit confused by her question.

“Of course I will, love,” I replied.

“No, I mean always. You’ll stay with me forever?” 

“My answer is the same. Of course I will stay with you,” I repeated.

“Draco, I know we’re young but I can’t picture myself with anyone else. I want to grow old with you, I want to have your children, I want to spend the rest of my life by your side.” As she spoke, I could feel my eyes begin to water. “I know I’m not a pureblood, but I want to love you for the rest of my life.”

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and rested my chin on her shoulder. “Elizabeth Samuels I love you more than you will ever know.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lizzie's POV:

Draco and I were to attend the Death Eater’s meeting that day and to say I was nervous was an understatement. The sleeve of my black shirt was becoming frayed with all of my fidgeting. My stomach felt as if it were twisted into knots and threatened to spew the small amount of lunch I had eaten that day. I had to remain sitting most of the day due to the spinning of my head and churning of my stomach. If I stood up, my body threatened to collapse. To put it simply, I was terrified to be in a room full of Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.

Draco was wearing his black suit once again and had the circumstances been different, I would have made a comment on how uncomfortable he looked in it. It was so pristine that the sleeves and trouser legs were creased along the sides. He looked bloody handsome as it would be.

“Lizzie, you have to calm down,” Draco spoke to me about twenty minutes before the meeting would begin. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“Nothing to be afraid of?” I snapped at him. “We’re going to be in a room full of the most evil people in the wizarding world and I have nothing to be afraid of?” He flinched from my sudden outburst and caused a flower of guilt to bloom in my stomach. “I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”

“No, I’m sorry, I’m the one who dragged you into this mess to begin with,” he sighed, grasping my left hand in his right.

“I thought we agreed to let that go,” I scolded him. I had told him time and time again to stop apologizing about ‘dragging me into this mess’. It was my father’s fault I was here, not Draco’s, but he refused to accept that.

“I can’t.” I sighed at his stubbornness but decided we would have this conversation later. “Anyway, I will be right there next to you the entire time, okay? So if you need support, just hold my hand.”

“Okay,” I agreed, knowing I would take him up on that.

We were in the sitting room downstairs while his parents were preparing the drawing room for the rest of the ‘guests’. The chairs we were in were black leather and cold beneath my body. 

This would be the first time the other Death Eaters would see me, and as much as I told myself otherwise, their opinions of me were important. I can’t let them think that I am just some little girl that got mixed up with the wrong sort of people. 

“We’ll be okay,” he spoke. I wondered if he was saying this for my sake or his. “If the Dark Lord speaks to us, just let me answer, all right?”

“Okay,” I repeated, thankful for this idea knowing that once I entered that room, my voice would be rendered useless.

Draco and I sat in silence after that until Narcissa rounded the corner into the room gracefully in her elegant, black dress, her eyes finding us immediately. “It is time,” she told us. “Everyone else has arrived and the Dark Lord wishes to begin now.” 

Draco’s hand tightened around mine as we stood and followed Narcissa. Her heels clicked on the immaculate wood flooring beneath us and I found myself wishing time would slow down so I didn’t have to see my father or the Dark Lord so soon.

The table in the drawing room was surrounded by people all dressed in black. I pretended not to notice my father sitting on the left hand side. The curtains in front of the tall windows were drawn tightly shut, blocking all light from the room save that which was coming from the large chandelier above our heads.

Draco and I took our seats quietly as the rest of the members of the room watched us. I could feel the nausea return to my body and resisted the urge to vomit here and now.

Once we were seated, the Dark Lord, who was at the head of the table spoke in his snake-like voice. “Welcome Elizabeth, Draco. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes,” Draco replied blankly. The Dark Lord nodded and switched his eyes to me, expecting an answer.

“Y-yes,” I croaked out. I cursed myself for sounding so weak, but no one seemed to notice.

“Fenrir, what is the news of the werewolves?” The Dark Lord looked to a very hairy man sitting on the opposite side of the table. Werewolves? 

“It’s good, my lord. I have managed to recruit a few and remain to work diligently on the others. Progress is looking good,” the man growled in return. I wouldn’t swear to it, but his teeth seemed to be pointed like fangs.

“Wonderful,” Voldemort hissed. “And Severus, the state of Hogwarts?” My eyes flicked to the greasy haired man who had been teaching me potions for the past five years. I was slightly surprised by his presence, but accepted it all the same.

“The same as always, my lord,” Snape drawled. “I have been given the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and Horace Slughorn has agreed to return as the potions master.” A humored murmur arose among the other Death Eaters, but Draco and I only looked to each other. Snape as the new Dark Arts professor? I knew he had been after the job for ages, but now that he had it I didn’t know whether to be happy or scared. And a new potions professor? It would be so odd brewing without Snape…

“Hush,” Voldemort hissed. Everyone fell silent immediately. Despite my hate for the man, I had to be impressed by how much power he held over these people. Each and every one of them were terrified of him. “Severus, I would like you to imprint on Mr. Slughorn once again our wish for him to join us.” Snape nodded in return.

Voldemort wanted Slughorn? A potions master? This man must really be something else if Voldemort wanted him as a Death Eater.

“Corbin, what is the state of the Ministry? Has Fudge stepped down yet?” Voldemort asked my father, who leaned forward in his chair. I winced and fixed my sight on a grain of wood in the table in front of me. It ran perpendicular to me and curved slightly around a small knot just in front of my right arm.

“The Ministry has only just accepted your return, my lord, and Fudge is still refusing to step down,” the bastard himself growled.

“Of course he is,” Voldemort sneered. “Well, Corbin, I hope you will continue to influence him to follow my wishes?”

“Yes, my lord,” my father nodded.

“Now, for our newest members,” Voldemort hissed. I hoped to Merlin that he wasn’t talking about me and Draco. I still wasn’t ready. “May I have the honor of introducing Elizabeth Samuels, daughter of our very own Corbin Yaxley. She and Draco have been given one of our most important tasks. Together they will mend the Vanishing Cabinet hidden in the Room of Requirement to allow a group of our Death Eaters into Hogwarts on the same night they will kill their headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. It’s sister resides in the shop called Borgin and Burke’s.” I clenched my teeth so hard I expected them to crack under the pressure. Draco placed his hand on my knee and I relaxed slightly with the reminder that he was here with me. “Draco, Elizabeth, you two agree to this, correct?”

I nodded my head without taking my eyes off of the table as Draco said, “Yes, my lord.” I didn’t want to see all of the eyes on me.

“And I assume I am correct in thinking you two know the consequences should you fail this task?” he spoke. Draco’s grasp on my knee tightened and I placed my hand on top of his. 

“Yes, my lord,” Draco said for the both of us. My breathing rate increased considerably.

Consequences? I hadn’t even thought of the consequences of failure. Surely Voldemort would kill both of our families and us. There was no way I was going to let that evil man near my mother or brother, so I swore to myself then and there that I was going to protect them, no matter my personal cost.

“Good. Do not disappoint me.” And with a crack, he was gone. 

That was it?

The other Death Eaters around the table stood and began to speak among themselves, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. Voldemort will kill my family if I failed. I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. Draco stood beside me and held his hand out, but my eyes remained locked on the grain of wood in the table. 

“Lizzie?” he asked quietly. He leaned down so his mouth was by my ear speaking to only me. “Liz, it’s over, we can leave.” I turned my head to him slowly and looked into his silvery eyes. Seeing them brought me back to Earth and seemed to calm me down a bit, but my heart kept racing. 

I nodded and took his hand, standing. Together we began to make our way to the door, only to be stopped by none other than the man that I wanted to see least of all right now.

“Elizabeth,” Yaxley grinned at me. “You must be so honored to have such an important task.” My eyes met his and I felt all the fear from moments ago disappear to be replaced by hate. It wrapped its thorny tendrils around my heart and squeezed.

“Excuse us, Yaxley,” Draco spoke, placing his hand on my bicep and attempting to lead us around the man in front of us, but I stood steadfast. 

“I found your nose, it’s in my business again. Get it out out unless you would like me to hex it off. Have a nice day somewhere else, Yaxley.” I clenched my jaw and stomped out of the room, Draco hot on my heels.

I stormed all the way up to my bedroom and threw myself face down on the bed. I heard Draco come in behind me and close the door gently before sitting on the edge of the bed beside me.

“You made it through the entire meeting, Liz,” he whispered, placing a hand on my back. 

“If that man speaks to me one more time, I am going to kick his testicles inside of his body,” I growled into my pillow.

“I can’t hear you, love. You’re talking to your pillow,” Draco cooed. I groaned and sat up, frowning at him.

“I said if that man speaks to me one more time, I am going to kick his testicles inside of his body.” I grumbled angrily. Draco tried to suppress a smile and failed miserably, grinning at me like a madman. “What’s so funny?” I snapped at him.

“Nothing,” he smiled. 

I folded my arms in front of me and said, “What?”

“You’re cute when you’re cross.”

“Draco, just because I love you doesn’t mean I won’t kick your testicles into your body.” 

“Okay, jeez,” he chuckled at me. “And for the record, I love you too.” He leaned forward and smirked at me.

“Stop it! I’m angry! Can’t you see that? It’s hard to be angry with you looking at me like that!” I protested, scooting away from him.

“Well, stop being angry and I might stop looking at you like this,” he teased me.

“I can’t stop being angry! You heard what my father said! He was trying to get me to snap and I almost did! Do you know how much I wanted to strike him?” I frowned at Draco, trying to stay cross, but it truly was hard with him smiling at me like that.

“I did, and I happen to think you handled it quite well. It was bloody entertaining,” he told me as he pushed his body closer to me. I unfolded my arms and scooted away once more, still trying to stay angry. However, the bed was not as big as I had imagined and I fell off the side with a rather loud thud. I lay on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. Draco burst into laughter, causing me to begin to giggle as well. I gave up on trying to stay angry. He leaned over the side of the bed and looked down at me. His face was tinged pink due to all of his laughter. His smile stretched all the way across his face, revealing his pearly teeth. “Are you still cross?” he asked with amusement, one eyebrow quirked.

“Yes. I’m cross with you for not letting me be cross.” I glared at him. I pushed myself up and sat back on the bed next to him. He held his arm out, I leaned into his chest, and he wrapped his arm around me, rubbing my arm gently. I breathed his scent in and closed my eyes. He smelled of peppermint, which soothed me to the core.

I felt at peace here with Draco. There was no one else I’d rather be in this mess with.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco's POV:

Liz and I stood together on Platform 9 ¾, hand in hand. It was obvious that Liz was terrified to return to Hogwarts this year. She kept looking over her shoulder as if she expected someone to sneak up behind her. 

“What’s wrong, love?” I asked her when she turned back around.

“What if my mum’s here?” Lizzie whispered to me as she looked around us. The crowd of students and parents surged around us, pulsing like a heartbeat. Everyone was getting sentimental with their goodbyes. I heard a chorus of ‘I love you’s with every step. 

“I doubt she is,” I reassured her with a squeeze of her hand. She nodded but continued to study each person we passed.

Liz and I loaded our trunks onto the train and then boarded to attempt to find a compartment. Even though the train wasn’t due to leave for another ten minutes and the platform was still full of students saying goodbye, each compartment seemed to be full to the brim with students already. We made our way carefully to the Slytherin compartment, dodging excited first years who darted through the corridor.

I pushed the door open and looked around for a place for Lizzie and I to sit that was isolated from other students. Each table had at least one student sitting at it, so I turned to Liz.

“Where do y-” I began to ask her where she wanted to sit but stopped mid sentence as I was interrupted by a perky Pansy Parkinson.

“Lizzie! Draco! Sit over here!” She waved at us enthusiastically from a table on our right where she was sitting with Theodore Nott. 

Lizzie’s face went from blank to confused and almost scared. I squeezed her hand once again and hesitantly led the way to Pansy’s table. I knew that Pansy and Lizzie had a very bipolar history, but I wasn’t about to sit by Blaise Zabini or Marcus Flint.

“Hey, you two! How were your summers?” Pansy asked us with a wide smile as Liz and I sat down.

“Alright,” I lied for the both of us, knowing Liz wouldn’t want to talk.

“Well, I guess that’s better than bad!” Pansy giggled, her hair bouncing with her laughter. I raised my eyebrow at her but decided not to say anything. “How about you, Theo? How was your summer?” Pansy turned to Theo with a flirty twinkle in her eye.

“It was brilliant,” he replied excitedly. “My uncle took me to Romania to see the Dragons he works with. One almost bit my arm off!” he added smugly. I rolled my eyes and looked to Lizzie, who was watching her hand pick at a loose thread on her shirt hem. 

Pansy and Theo launched into a discussion of Theo’s adventure with the dragons. I silently watched Liz’s hand work at the thread until she worked it completely off. 

“So Lizzie,” Pansy began, obviously bored with Theo’s lies. I snapped my head up at the black-haired girl, daring her to say something to upset Liz. “Did you h-”

 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Lizzie asked suddenly, surprising all of us at the table.

“What do you mean?” Pansy asked, faking innocence. I internally groaned, knowing Liz would leap at this.

“I mean what happened to me being a mudblood?” Liz snapped. She was leaning forward now, eyes narrowed.

“That was before I found out your dad was a wizard,” Pansy replied sweetly, as if this was a perfectly fine explanation.

“So that changes everything? Suddenly I’m not a mudblood or just ‘Samuels’, I’m Lizzie all over again?”

“Look, Liz, I’m really sorry about all of that-” Pansy reasoned.

Lizzie was beginning to let her anger out as she said, “If it hadn’t been for-”, but she stopped talking when there was a commotion at the door to the compartment. 

Blaise Zabini was attempting to shut the door, but something was stopping it. He was continually slamming it shut, but it remained open by about five inches. I rolled my eyes at him, and then the compartment was lurched into complete darkness. Standing up, I couldn’t see anything around me, not even my chest when I looked down. 

Panicking, I called out to Liz, “Lizzie?”

“Right here,” she replied right next to me with a quiet voice. I felt her hand touch my right arm and travel down to my hand where she grasped me tightly. Her touch calmed me but I remained on my toes, worried that something was going to happen.

The darkness began to subside slightly as I was shoved backwards onto Liz.

“Oi!” I shouted, leaping back to my feet. I saw a flash of something- I’m not sure what- move upwards towards the luggage rack above our heads. I watched the rack for any other sign of movement, but when I saw none, I sat back down next to Liz and quickly apologized. “Sorry, love. Something knocked me over.”

“No need to apologize,” she replied kindly. Our hands remained linked as Pansy and Theo came back into view.

“What do you think that was?” Theo asked, brushing his brown hair out of his face.

“Probably just a first year playing a joke,” I spoke, though I had a different opinion.

“Yeah, probably,” Pansy huffed.

The rest of the trip to Hogsmeade station was spent mostly silent on me and Lizzie’s part, but Pansy and Theo were constantly bickering about something. At one point, Pansy said something offensive about muggles and I felt Lizzie stiffen next to me as if she wanted to say something, so I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close to me. 

As we were pulling into the station and the brakes were squealing loudly, we stood, I turned to Liz, and whispered, “You go ahead without me. There’s something I have to do.”

“Whatever it is, I’m staying. We’re in this together, Draco,” she argued quietly, instantly knowing what I was speaking about.

“It’s nothing like that, Liz. I’ll be up soon, just go ahead.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

“Alright. Just hurry up,” she spoke as she collected her items.

“I will,” I assured her. She frowned and left the compartment. 

Making sure the compartment was now empty and the doors were firmly shut, I whirled around pointing my wand to the area of the luggage rack that was occupied. 

“Petrificus Totalus!” Harry Potter toppled from the rack and landed on the floor with a resounding thud. “I thought so,” I smirked at his form, now lying on the ground beside his invisibility cloak. “This is from my father,” I sneered as I stamped hard on his face. With a sickening crunch and a trickle of blood, his nose broke under the heel of my shoe. I lifted his invisibility cloak, which had fluttered down beside him, and threw it over his body. “Reckon they won’t find you until the train’s back in London. See you around, Potter. Or not.”

I turned and left the train compartment with a sense of finality.


	5. Chapter 5

Lizzie's POV:

I sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall as far away from the Head Table as possible, hanging half off of the bench. The guilt of what I would have to do by the end of the school year was like a tendril of ice twisting itself around my innards. Would it eventually freeze my heart? Would I become what I always swore I wouldn’t?

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Goose Skin raced its way down my arms. I felt hundreds of pairs of eyes on me. It felt as if everyone in the Great Hall was watching me, like everyone knew what I had been tasked to do. 

These thoughts along with many others were all running through my head as I sat there waiting for Draco. Whatever he had to do on the train was taking too long for my taste and causing me even more anxiety.

Pansy, Theo, and Blaise sat around me, leaving a place for Draco directly next to me. I was thankful for the space, but wished I had more. 

I had just about decided to go looking for Draco when he came sulking into the Great Hall, hands in his pockets and head pointed towards the ground. When he brought his head up, he looked along the table until he saw me and immediately made his way towards me. Sitting down next to me, he placed a kiss on my cheek.

“What’d you have to do?” I asked him impatiently as he laid a hand on my knee. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth and began to chew on it. 

“Tell you later,” he whispered, glancing across the table to Pansy, who was talking animatedly with Theo about Merlin knows what. I wanted to demand that he tell me here and now, but knowing who was around us, I chose to hold my tongue. There is a time and place for everything. I would just have to remember to ask him about it later. 

My eyes involuntarily flickered behind Draco’s head and up to the Head Table, where the Headmaster was sitting patiently as the last of the students trickled in to their seats. My stomach lurched dangerously at his appearance for Dumbledore looked older and more fragile than I had ever seen him in the five years I had been attending his school. His brilliantly blue eyes locked on mine and for a moment we just watched each other until he nodded his head ever so slightly and continued to watch the students who were entering the room. 

I turned my head too, to see who was coming into the room. The seemingly last student to arrive was none other than Harry Potter, who was holding a white cloth to his nose that was stained red with blood. I furrowed my eyebrows in concern for the boy. The front of his robes were also tinged with red.

Beside me, Draco was staring at his hands which were folded precariously in front of him on the table. He was refusing to look up. 

The connections were made in my head in milliseconds. 

Harry had been the one in the Slytherin compartment. That’s what Draco had to ‘take care of’ on the train. Draco had done that to Harry. 

Despite my new findings, I kept my mouth closed, promising myself to talk to Draco about this later. I gave Draco a pointed look from the corner of my eye, he, however, didn’t notice, because he was still staring at his hands guiltily.

The sorting seemed to drag on for ages. I sat with my hands fidgeting nervously with the edge of my robe, a habit I had acquired over the summer along with the habit of chewing on my lips. Yet finally, after Samantha Yang was sorted into Gryffindor, a plethora of food appeared in front of me. Suddenly I was aware of how little of an appetite I had at the moment. 

“You have to eat something,” Draco murmured, noticing the lack of food on my plate, but when I looked over, his looked just the same as mine.

“I’ll eat if you do,” I bargained, not wanting him to go hungry.

“Deal,” he agreed. Reaching for the mashed potatoes, I scooped some onto my plate.

We both pretended to eat to appease the other until the main courses disappeared to be replaced by the desserts. Draco and I both decided not to eat any of the sugar, even though there was a large bowl of sherry tart within arms reach. I knew that if I tried to force anything else down, I would end up vomiting it up later tonight. 

“Lizzie,” Pansy prompted me as she picked at the chocolate gateau in front of her. “What do you think of Slughorn?” 

I looked up to the Head Table to observe the walrus of a man. I remembered Voldemort’s wishes for him to join him and wondered why, for Slughorn was a very large man who possessed a very large mustache. He looked like a very jolly man, laughing deeply with a sloshing glass of wine in his hand. He reminded me of a younger (not by much) Father Christmas.

“I’d rather have him than Umbridge,” I replied shortly, already done with Pansy for the year. I saw Draco’s mouth twitch in my peripheral vision.

“I guess we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow!” she squawked in her annoyingly perky voice.I wanted to strangle her.

When dessert was over and everyone was stuffed to the brim, save for me and Draco, Dumbledore stood at the Head Table and I felt the tendril of icy guilt return. 

“The very best of evenings to you!” he said, smiling broadly despite his obvious exhaustion. “To our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you.” A dull and unenthused applause followed his greeting. Everyone wanted to get to bed.

“Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength,” Dumbledore continued, touching on the topic that was sitting at the front of everyone’s mind. At the mention of Voldemort, I dropped my gaze to my lap and refused to look back up. “I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we stay safe. The castles magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them - in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always with the utmost regard for your own and others’ safety.

“But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say goodnight. Pip pip!” I heard Dumbledore clap his hands and with that, everyone in the Hall stood and began to make their ways to the common rooms. I grabbed Draco’s cool hand in mine and hurried ahead of everyone else at the Slytherin table, who were taking their sweet time. 

Once Draco and I had escaped the earshot of anyone around us on our journey to the dungeons, I spoke to him more harshly than I had intended. “You broke Harry’s nose,” I stated bluntly. I began to lead us the long way around to the common room to give us some time to talk in private.

“Well, yes,” he began, “but he was the one who pushed me into you and spied on us.” 

“So you broke his nose?” I exclaimed, stopping where I stood and stomping my foot. 

“Yes,” he replied defiantly, stopping as well. He turned and looked me in the eyes.

“And you had to send me away to deal with him?” I asked. “Is that how it’s going to be? You send me away so you can deal with it all? I’m not going to let you do that. From now on it’s you and me until the very end. No sending me away, alright?” 

Draco’s gaze softened as he took a step towards me and grasped both of my hands in his. “Alright,” he sighed with a tone of defeat. “I just want to protect you.”

“Protect me while I’m beside you. I don’t want you to go through this alone, Draco,” I pleaded with him.

“Okay, from this point forward, we’re in this together.” He brought my left hand to his mouth and placed his lips gently on my skin.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he affirmed, and dropping my right hand but still holding my left we walked back to the Slytherin common room. 

We reached the entrance at the same time as Theo and Pansy who had quite obviously snuck off for some private time together. Pansy’s hair was more ruffled than she would ever allow it to be and Theo’s robes looked crooked, as if he had dressed in a hurry. 

“Hey, guys!” Pansy breathed roughly. She was huffing as if she had ran all the way here from the Great Hall.

“Hi,” I replied quietly with a frown, noticing how quickly Pansy moved. It was only the first day back at Hogwarts and she was already sneaking off with boys. 

“Do either of you happen to know the password?” Draco asked impatiently, rocking from one foot to another.

“Yeah, it’s ‘Dragon’s Breath’. How mad is that?” Theo grinned. As he spoke the words, the wall next to us shifted to reveal the Slytherin common room. 

When the four of us made to move through the entryway, Pansy attempted to link arms with me like we used to before we had our big row. I leapt away from her touch and looked at her as if she had grown a third eye on her forehead. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but before she could, I darted through the hole, not wanting to put up with that. It was bad enough I had to room with her.

The common room air was cool as usual, the way I liked it. On my left, the fire roared larger than life with Slytherin’s signature green flames. The tall windows that looked into the lake were dark, seeing as the sun had set already, but were tinted the murky green of the lake water. Under my feet, the grey stone shined as if the house elves had spent the entire summer scrubbing just our flooring. The couches and tables scattered around the room were claimed by other students catching up with the friends they hadn’t seen over the holiday.

“I just realized,” I turned to Draco, suddenly thinking of something, “we won’t be sharing a bed.” 

“Oh,” Draco frowned. Apparently he hadn’t thought about the sleeping situations until just now either.

“It’s going to be odd to not sleep with you,” I pondered.

“You can always come sneak into my room,” he offered cheekily and I suppressed a smile.

“I might just take you up on that,” I teased.

“Try to get some sleep tonight, okay? Tomorrow is going to be a long day,” he said seriously.

“You too,” I replied. I stood up on my tip toes and planted my lips firmly upon Draco’s. My arms snaked their way around his neck like the snake pictured in the Slytherin crest. My fingers tangled their way into his soft white-blonde hair as our lips moved slowly together lovingly. When I pulled back for breath, I smiled and said, “I love you.” 

“I love you too, Liz. Sleep tight.”


	6. Chapter 6

Lizzie’s POV:

The first day of term arrived with the sun, staring me in the face and making me want to hide under my covers. Maybe if I refused to get out of bed, I would survive this school year, so I pulled my duvet over my head and closed my eyes. However, a knocking on the dormitory door pulled me from my oxygen-depleted, pitch-black world a few moments later.

“What do you want?” Millicent snapped at whoever was standing on the other side of the door. I could see her in my mind. Her red hair curling around her chubby face as she popped a knee out and placed a hand on her hip. I groaned at how clearly I was able to see her without actually laying eyes on her.

“I came to get Lizzie,” Draco replied from the doorway. I threw the covers back and sat up in a flash. Draco was standing in the doorframe in his robes, looking at his feet. I smiled a bit at how uncomfortable he looked and slid my legs off the bed.

“I’ve got it from here, Millicent,” I spoke carefully to the girl, who was known to jump at anyone who disrespected her. She frowned, but walked out of the dormitory without another word. Now it was just me and Draco, who I waved into the room. “What time is it?” I asked him as he sat on my bed and I began to get dressed for classes.

“Breakfast is over in a few minutes,” he explained quietly, looking at the tips of his shoes. “I went ahead and got you some toast and your time table.” He reached into his pocket and removed a piece of toast wrapped in a napkin and a piece of parchment that must have been my time table.

“Did you eat anything?” I asked, pulling my robes over my shoulders and accepting the objects from Draco. Our hands brushed briefly and I felt my stomach explode with butterflies. It was amazing that he could do that to me even after this long.

“Uh- yeah,” he lied.

“Do you remember how you said you could tell when I was lying because my nose twitches? Well, when you lie, you refuse to make eye contact and you bite the inside of your lip,” I replied, breaking the piece of toast in half. 

“I wasn’t hungry,” he murmured. He accepted the toast with his shaking hands and nibbled at the corner. 

“If you don’t eat, you’ll die of malnutrition and then I will kill you,” I threatened, pointing at him with my toast. “What do you have first?” I looked at my time table and walked towards the door. Draco followed with silent steps.

“Transfiguration,” he answered with a glance at his own piece of parchment. 

“Damn,” I sighed angrily. “I have Alchemy then double Herbology.” I held my time table next to his.

“Well, we have Potions, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy together,” Draco pointed out. “Why are you taking Alchemy?”

“It’s good knowledge for aurors, and it helps me with Potions.” I nodded as if it were obvious. Our shoes clicked on the stone floor beneath us as we made our way towards our classes. I didn’t mention the fact that I secretly loved alchemy class.

“You want to be an auror?” Draco asked.

“Yes, I thought you knew that,” I pondered, looking at him in the corner of my eye. His silky hair kept falling in his face and he kept brushing it back.

“I probably did,” he muttered quietly, his face contorted as he tried to remember.

“Well, here’s Professor McGonagall's classroom, I’ll see you later.” I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile.

“See you,” he replied, walking into the classroom.

Suddenly, I was alone. Sure I was surrounded by a load of students making their ways to their own classes, but I felt more alone than I had in a very long time. All of these people around me had no idea what Draco and I were being forced to do. No one knew that by the end of this school year, either Albus Dumbledore would be dead or Draco and I would be. 

\-----

I walked into Potions class with my head down. Every other class that day had been utter hell. People had given me odd looks all day and I was sure that they all knew what had happened over the summer, so I kept tugging my sleeve down further and further until my whole left hand was hidden. 

When I walked into Professor Slughorn’s classroom, I looked up and searched for Draco immediately, wanting the comfort of his presence more than anything. I saw him immediately, standing near the edge of the room. 

“Hi,” I breathed when I reached his side.

“Lizzie, thank Merlin,” he spoke back. “Was your day terrible too?”

“It was. It seemed like everyone knew,” I muttered.

“Yeah,” he nodded, agreeing.

“Welcome, welcome, students!” the man at the head of the room rumbled. He was a short and portly man with a bloody large mustache, and when he walked, he seemed to waddle like a penguin. “Welcome to sixth year potions! Now, this year we will be reviewing potions that will most definitely appear on your N.E.W.T.’s, so I advise you to pay attention.” He waddled over to a long table holding several potions. “A few examples here are-”

All heads turned to the door as a few pairs of quick footsteps were heard. My stomach turned to lead and dropped into my shoes as I saw who the noises belonged to.

“Ah, Harry m’boy! I was beginning to worry,” Slughorn chortled. I frowned at the way Slughorn addressed Harry. “You’ve brought someone with us, I see.” Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were standing in the doorway, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. 

Their nervous energy was perfect for quidditch.

I frowned deeper at that random thought.

Harry and Ron had both gotten haircuts over the summer, their hair significantly shorter than the last I had seen it. Not that I cared, or anything. Their bags were slung carelessly over their shoulders and their robes were dishevelled as if they had been in a hurry to get here.

“Ron Weasley, sir, but I’m dead awful at potions, a menace actually. I’m probably just gonna-” He turned around but was stopped short by Harry, who had seen what Ron was trying to do and blocked him. 

“Nonsense,” Slughorn replied, “We’ll sort you out, any friend of Harry’s is a friend of mine. Get your books out.” He turned back to the group of us and began to speak again, but Harry interrupted him quite rudely.

“Uh- actually, sir, I haven’t actually gotten my book yet and nor has Ron,” he explained, his eyes scanning the room. When they fell on me, I saw his face lose a bit of color in what was hopefully guilt. I stared back with a blank face, letting him know that no answers this summer hadn’t bothered me at all (even though it had bothered me quite a lot). 

“Not to worry, get what you want from the cupboard,” he waved absently at the cupboards behind Harry and turned to the group once more. I pulled my eyes away from Harry with my chin high. “Now, as I was saying, I prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these might be?” he prompted us with a cocky tone. This man was intelligent and he knew it. He didn’t try to hide it from anyone and reminded me slightly of Professor Lockheart from second year, but with more authenticity. 

As usual, Hermione Granger’s hand shot into the air as Harry and Ron collected their books from the cupboard with a bit of a scuffle and went to stand beside Hermione. 

“Yes, Miss-” Slughorn prompted the bushy-haired girl.

“Granger, sir,” Hermione finished for him. She took a few hesitant steps forward and peeked into the first cauldron. “That one there is Veritaserum. It’s a truth telling serum.” She moved to the next cauldron and didn’t even have to look in to tell what it was. “And that one, Polyjuice potion. It’s terribly tricky to make and this one it Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. It’s rumored to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them. For example, I smell freshly mown grass and- and parchment and spearmint toothpaste.” She seemed to get a bit flustered as she took her place back in the large group with a red face. 

I sniffed the air and closed my eyes, trying to find out what I could smell. The room smelled like lavender, my favorite candle scent back home; and parchment like Hermione; and peppermint.

“Now, Amortentia doesn’t create actual love, that would be impossible, but it does cause powerful infatuation or obsession. For that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room.” As he spoke, several girls in the front of the group took slow steps forward, drawn to the magnificent smell of the Amortentia, and when Slughorn noticed this, he set the lid on the cauldron with a loud clank. The girls were snapped from their trance and returned back to the group with red faces similar to Hermione's. 

“Sir,” Katie Bell said, “You haven’t told us what’s in that one.” She gestured to the last phial on the table with her head. 

“Ah, yes. What you see before you, ladies and gentlemen, is a curious little potion known as Felix Felicis.” He lifted the small phial with delicate fingers and held it before us. It was small and possessed a clear potion that quite resembled water. “But it is more commonly known as-”

“Liquid luck,” Hermione interjected quickly. I frowned at her interruption but remained silent.

“Yes, Miss Granger,” Slughorn smiled. “Liquid luck. Desperately tricky to make, disastrous should you get it wrong. One sip and you will find that all of your endeavors succeed.” Draco, who had been absent mindedly looking at his hands, looked up at Slughorn’s words. I glanced at him curiously and he looked back to me with wide eyes. I could follow his train of thought through his eyes. 

All of our endeavors succeeding. And what possible endeavors would we need assistance in succeeding with? 

“At least until the effects wear off. So, this is what I offer each of you today. One tiny phial of liquid luck for the student who, in the hour that remains, manages to brew an acceptable draft of Living Death. Recipe for which can be found on page 10 of your books.” 

Immediately, everyone, including me and Draco, flipped to page 10 in our Potions textbook. I desperately tried to remember everything I could on the Draught of Living Death that Snape had taught us in the last five years. 

“I should point out, however,” Slughorn continued, “Only one student has managed to brew a potion of sufficient quality to claim this prize.” He smiled at us all oddly. I wasn’t sure whether I liked this man or not. He seemed too cocky for my taste. “Nevertheless, good luck to you all. Let the brewing commence.” 

Students rushed across the room to their brewing stations or to the ingredients cupboard. Draco and I went to stations in the far corner of the room away from most others.

I lit the fire under my cauldron with my wand and headed to the ingredients cupboard with my book in my hand. I was to use infusion of wormwood, powdered root of asphodel, sloth brain, and sopophorous bean juice. I gathered all of this in my arms and went back to the table. 

The fire under my cauldron was crackling quietly as I read through the instructions a few times. After getting a feel for what I was to accomplish, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of my face. I was determined to win that Felix Felicis.

Speaking of Draco, I glanced over at him to see what he was doing. He was prodding the fire under his cauldron with the tip of his wand, a frown on his face. His hair was hanging down in front of his forehead and he wasn’t bothering to push it back. I smiled at him despite myself and continued with my own work.

I poured the infusion of wormwood into my cauldron and noted the horrid smell that ensued. It smelled like a dirty dog, causing my nose to crinkle. After placing the powdered asphodel root into the mixture, I stirred it twice clockwise as the instructions stated. My potion turned to a smooth, black currant-colored liquid invoking a smug smile from my lips. I was sure I could win this.

Next was the sopophorous bean. I gripped my silver blade in my right hand and held the black bean in place with my left. The bean, however, was proving quite hard to cut. It was as hard as a rock and whenever I brought my knife down on it, it seemed to leap out of the way. I frowned in frustration and repositioned the bean between my first two fingers on my left hand. When I brought the knife down hard upon the bean, the blade slipped off the side and sliced into my thumb. I cursed and grasped my thumb.

“Liz?” Draco asked questioningly, looking up from his own bean. “What happened?” His eyes flicked to my hands.

“The damn bean wouldn’t open and the knife caught my thumb,” I grumbled. I lifted my right hand, which was covering the wound, to see the damage. Deep red, almost purple, blood was smudged all over the pad of my thumb and the shallow line of the wound was spilling more by the second. 

“Oh, Liz,” Draco sighed walking around the table to come look. “I’ll take you to Madam Pomfrey.”

“No, I’m fine,” I argued, picking up a nearby cloth that was supposed to be used to mop up spills and wrapping it around the wound. “See? Out of sight out of mind.” Draco gave me and incredulous look but returned to his cauldron.

Somewhere to my right, I heard an explosion, making me jump, and when I looked up, I saw that Seamus Finnegan had somehow managed to cause his potion to explode. His face was covered with black soot and his eyebrows were singed off. I frowned and went back to my sopophorous bean. 

Deciding to take a new and more forceful approach, I slammed the heel of the knife on the bean and it oozed a purple juice. Smiling at my successful bruteness, I squeezed the bean over the cauldron and the juice dripped slowly in. The potion turned a light lilac color. I then stirred counterclockwise until the mixture turned clear as water. After this, I dropped in the seven square pieces of Valerian Root that I had borrowed from Draco. 

When I finished all of the instructions that the book provided, my potion was deep green in color, not the pale pink it was supposed to be. Draco’s was a dark pink, way closer to the expectation.

Slughorn walked around the classroom, peering into each cauldron. When he reached the table where Draco and I were working, he passed over my cauldron without a second glance and gave Draco’s potion a curt nod. Draco cursed under his breath.

“The clear winner!” Slughorn cried to the dungeon a few moments later. I was angry at myself for not succeeding in brewing it correctly. I was always great at Potions and I could have sworn that I brewed it exactly as the book instructed. “Excellent, excellent! You seem to have inherited your mother's proclivity for potions.” I looked up to see who Slughorn was speaking to, and when I discovered the person, my lips pursed in a frown. “Here you are then, Felix Felicis, as promised, Harry!”


	7. Chapter 7

Draco’s POV:

It was odd not sleeping beside Lizzie back at Hogwarts. I had gotten so used to having her next to me that I didn’t sleep well the first few days, not that I had been sleeping well in the first place. 

I found myself falling back into my Hogwarts routine pretty easily, however. When I woke up in the morning, I would quickly get ready for classes then head down to the common room to wait for Liz, trying to avoid everyone. Sometimes she would beat me down there on the nights she didn’t sleep at all. If it was early enough, we would go to the Great Hall and pretend to eat breakfast before parting ways for our separate classes.

After classes, Liz and I would sit in either the common room or the library and do our homework in near silence, occasionally asking each other quiet questions about our days and such. But one day a few weeks after the start of term, Lizzie broke the silence.

“Draco?” she whispered, looking up from her most recent Potions essay. I pulled my attention away from my own Transfiguration essay and looked at her with a questioning look. Her hair was tucked carefully back behind her ears and came flowing down her shoulders. Her eyebrows were furrowed as if she had been thinking about something that worried her. “Do you reckon we should… you know… start?” I narrowed my eyes and cocked my head to let her know I wasn’t following. “On the… erm… the Vanishing Cabinet?” she whispered, looking around to see if anyone was listening in on our conversation.

“Oh…” I replied, running a hand through my hair in exasperation. I had almost managed to forget about the task. Almost. It still haunted my every moment like a weight tied around my neck, but it had become such a normal thing that I had learned to live with it. “Y-yeah, I reckon we should. Uh… I can start researching spells now. I’ve almost finished my essay, anyway.” 

“I’ll help you,” she offered. I nodded and packed up my Transfiguration work with slow hands, wanting to put as much time between the work and now as I could. Standing up, I walked around the bookshelf behind Liz and searched for a book that might help. 

My eyes almost instantly landed upon a book simply titled Repairing Charms and thought it quite convenient for our needs. The cover was a royal purple with elegant gold lettering twisting across the front like vines. I gripped it carefully in my hands like it might disintegrate in my hands as I walked back to Liz. 

“I found a book of repairing charms,” I mumbled, flipping the book open as I sat beside the girl, who had a blank piece of parchment in front of her with a quill in her hand, ink dripping onto the table.

“Don’t you also think we should g-go into the Room of Requirement to see what we’re working with?” she muttered as she brushed her hair over her left shoulder.

“Well, yes…” I replied with a sigh. “I suppose we could go in tonight. You think?”

“Yeah.” She began to chew on her lip uncertainly and I felt for her. It was one thing to know what we were to do, but it was a whole different feeling to actually start on the task. It was like the seed of evil had been planted, but now it was beginning to sprout.

\-----

Show us the room where everything is hidden.  
Show us the room where everything is hidden.  
Show us the room where everything is hidden.

Lizzie and I had agreed that this was probably where the Vanishing Cabinet was hidden, seeing as the Room of Requirement was also known as the Room Where Everything is Hidden. We also had no idea what else to do.

The intricate lines began to race across the wall, quickly revealing to us the large door. I turned my head to see how Liz was holding up. I know she’s a strong girl, but even I was shaking right then. She brought her right hand up to her face and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear, trailing her fingers along the beginning of her jawline, and I could see her hands trembling slightly. Her face was wiped carefully blank as she stared at the door in front of us.

“Liz?” I asked quietly. 

“Hmm?” she hummed in return, flickering her eyes from the door to my face. I studied them to see if I could see what she was truly feeling, and she was terrified. It was clear as day as I looked into her deep grey eyes. After a few seconds of eye contact, her reserve broke and she allowed her face to relax. I saw the lines of worry that traced their way across her skin. Her eyebrows furrowed in terror above her eyes, causing a line of worry to appear between her brows. The lines around her mouth were due to the fact that she was biting her lip so hard.

Instead of replying, I simply held my hand out to her. She looked down to it and placed her hand on mine, linking our fingers. Then, the two of us opened the door of the Room of Requirement and walked in, hands trembling together.

Beside me, Lizzie didn’t attempt to hide her surprise and I didn’t either. A gasp exited her mouth and she brought a hand to her mouth. My eyebrows knitted together and I felt myself start shaking even more.

When someone says ‘The Room Where Everything is Hidden’, they mean ‘The Room Where Everything is Hidden’. In front of us spanned a room filled to the absolute brim with everything imaginable. Just from my spot by the door, I could see masses of old books with torn covers, towering piles of broken chairs splintering dangerously, stacks of chipped statues of people that were long gone, tables piled high with Fanged Frisbees, corked bottles with congealed potions way past their expiration date, and handfuls of sparkling jewelry that must have been worth a load. 

“How will we ever find it?” Lizzie asked, the extreme apprehension evident in her voice as it quivered and cracked, betraying her.

“Merlin,” I sighed, looking around us. “I- uh- I suppose we should split up? Look for a cabinet that looks damaged and important?” My voice came out just as concerned as Liz’s. “If you find anything, send up red sparks.”

“Alright. I’ll go left, you go right,” she suggested quietly, studying the room before us.

“Okay,” I agreed as I squeezed her hand and let go, walking to a break in the items.

“Draco?” Lizzie called from behind me. I stopped walking and turned around, only to see a flash of brown hair before a pair of arms wound themselves around my neck. I stumbled backwards a bit before catching myself and realizing what was happening. As I enfolded Liz in my own embrace, she buried her face in the crook of my neck. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek on the side of her head, savoring the feeling of her body against mine.

“Be safe, okay? Who knows what’s in here...” she murmured. 

“You too,” I replied. I placed my hands on her arms and pulled back, looking into her beautiful eyes. She stared back with an intensity unlike one I had ever seen in her. Her lips were upon mine in an instant. I had no idea who initiated the kiss, but I didn’t care because I was whisked away by the feeling of bubbles in my stomach. My nerves were shivering with love for this girl in my arms. “Lizzie Samuels,” I whispered when we both pulled back, panting for air, “I love you more than I have ever found a way to say.” A small smile pulled at the edges of her mouth.

“Draco Malfoy, the feeling is more than mutual.” She placed a soft hand on the side of my face, her thumb stroking my cheek. 

We stood there for a few moments before we both silently decided to begin what we had come here to do. Her arms retracted from my body and we parted ways. I could hear her shoes padding quietly on the floor as she walked away from me. Sighing deeply, I began to tread my way through the items.

I had to watch where I was walking very carefully because every step was threatened by pieces of rubbish left here by Merlin knows who. My eyes scanned my surroundings, searching desperately for a cabinet that looked as if it could be the Vanishing Cabinet. Liz and I actually didn’t know what it looked like, but we had our guesses. 

All I was seeing, however, was useless items that seemed to have no reason to be hidden in The Room Where Everything is Hidden. Who would need to hide a chair with a broken leg? Or a burnt bedsheet? A statue of a man with a curly wig? Honestly, I was dumbfounded by some of the things I was seeing. 

I had been walking aimlessly without any success for about twenty minutes before I came across a cabinet at all. It was a small thing that came up to my mid-thigh. The wood was worn and cracked in places as if it had been dropped. I squatted down and pulled the door open. Inside were a few tattered textbooks that I didn’t recognize, a photograph of a black cat winding itself around someone’s legs, a cauldron with a melted hole in the bottom, and a wizard’s cloak covered in soot. I huffed angrily, knowing that this couldn’t be the Vanishing Cabinet. It was far too small.

Shutting the door, I began to walk again, chewing on my chapped lip. I passed pile after pile of junk for what seemed like hours with no luck. 

“Oh look,” I mumbled to myself, “another chair.” I had passed broken chair after broken chair and was becoming quite sick of seeing them. Honestly, who needs to hide a chair? 

I began to wonder to myself how I was ever going to find my way back to the door, seeing as I had made many turns to arrive at where I was. I was hopelessly lost and hoped that Lizzie was having better luck that I was. 

Looking to my left, my eyes landed on another possible cabinet. This one was taller than I was and made of deep mahogany. There were two large and elegantly carved doors that were missing handles. I used my thumbs to pry them open and a small electric blue pixie launched itself at my face, scratching at my skin. It began to shriek at me with a voice so shrill it was as if I was listening to a load of budgies arguing. I yelped and fell backwards on my bum and gripped the pixie around the waist, yanking it off of my face. Its hands clawed at my own, drawing blood. I sneered and launched the pixie over my shoulder. “Bloody pixies,” I muttered.

I stood up and brushed my clothes off, hoping I wasn’t too dirty. Dirty clothes were my bane. 

I had begun to walk again when I saw a shower of red sparks in my peripheral vision. I darted my eyes to the remaining sparks falling from the air. “Liz?” I shouted in their direction.

“Draco?” I head Liz shout. From the sound of her voice, she was a fair distance away. “I think I found something!” 

“I’m coming!” I yelled to her, hurrying in her direction. I side stepped broken pieces of anything and everything as I hurried my way toward the origin of Lizzie’s voice. 

An enormous stuffed troll made me leap on my journey. I frowned at it and continued on my way.

By the time I reached the small clearing in the items where Lizzie stood, I was panting from exertion. 

“Did you run here?” she asked me quietly, coming to my side.

“Yeah,” I breathed. She smiled and placed a hand on my back and rubbed it softly. She allowed me to pant for a bit longer before talking again.

“I think I found it,” she muttered, looking up. I followed her gaze and my breath hitched as I saw what she was speaking of. 

A towering cabinet stood in front of us ominously. It’s dark original color was hidden under a very blackened layer of damage. The wood was chipped around the corners and the handles were hanging loosely from their places on the doors. Elegantly carved pieces of metal were attached to the wood, making it look very important and very powerful. 

“I- uh- I think you’re right,” I whispered. My eyes continued to study the cabinet as Lizzie watched me. 

“Is it too much to hope that a simple Reparo will work?” she asked hopefully, lacing her fingers through mine.

“It’s worth a try,” I replied, pulling my wand from my pocket. Pointing it at the cabinet, I spoke, “Reparo.” I held my breath, watching the cabinet. Nothing happened.

“I figured,” Liz sighed beside me.

“Listen,” I turned to face the girl, “I can owl Borgin and ask him if he has any clue how to repair it. I think that’s our only hope. It’s too damaged for any spell that I know of, even the ones we found in the library.” 

“Alright.” She turned her head to look at the cabinet, her eyebrows furrowing once more today. “All we have is hope.”


	8. Chapter 8

Lizzie’s POV:

“Hey, Lizzie!” Pansy Parkinson called to me from the entrance of the Slytherin common room. I was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire, allowing my mind to go blank after so much activity lately, when the girl had entered the room and decided to talk to me. She came and sat by me. “Come sit with me at dinner tonight.” I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at her, still put off by how kind she was being to me.

“I can’t. I actually have to head to the library and finish Snape’s essay before bed,” I sighed, standing up with my bag and beginning to walk to the exit. I wasn’t saying this just to get out of being around Pansy, though it was a wonderful plus side. I had been putting off Snape’s essay about the Imperius Curse for three days and it was due tomorrow. If I didn’t finish it now, I wouldn’t ever finish it.

“You’re not going to eat?” Pansy spoke, not standing up from her place on the sofa, only turning her body to see me. She had her head cocked to one side like a puppy and her eyebrows furrowed. 

“I’m not hungry,” I told her with a shrug, turning and walking away.

“You never eat anymore, Liz. You don’t think people haven’t noticed? You’ve been losing weight like a madman. You and Draco both. People are starting to talk.” I froze where I was and blinked at the wall in front of me. Were people really noticing? “You need to eat.”

“I do eat,” I snapped.

“Look, I know we’re not on the best terms, but I still do care about you.”

“That’s not what you would have said a few months ago,” I grumbled, walking out the door with heavy feet.

I looked down at my body as I walked towards the library. I didn’t look like I was losing weight, and besides I was eating fine. Pansy was just saying that to make it seem like she cared about me when she didn’t really. Somehow she knew about the task and she wanted to be on my good side because it seemed like I was on Voldemort’s good side. In reality, however, I was thrust into this situation by my dirty, rotten father. 

Shaking my head, I stepped into the library. I walked down the center and looked for an open table where I could work in silence, undisturbed by anyone. 

Draco would be here with me, but he hadn’t slept well at all the previous night, so I refused to let him out of his dormitory until he had at least taken a nap. That’s where he was at the moment, probably pretending to sleep just to appease me. I didn’t care, at least he was resting.

I had reached the very end of the library before finding a table that wasn’t taken. I was happy that it was in the very back corner, away from all the others. I pulled the chair out and placed my bag on the table with a soft thud. However, the table was occupied. Someone was sitting on the floor with their back in the corner, a book propped open in their lap and their head lolling, asleep.

Harry’s glasses were sliding down his nose as he snored softly. I cringed and slid the chair in (which screeched loudly), wanting to escape before he realized I was here. Picking up my bag, I turned and tried to tiptoe away, only to land on my face. My foot had got caught on the leg of the chair that I had thought I had pushed in and caused me to trip. 

I cursed as Harry started with a snore and leapt to his feet, drawing his wand. The book that was in his lap was thrown to the floor as he stood.

“Lizzie?” he asked, dropping his wand. “Merlin, you scared me!” I pulled myself up and rubbed my chin, which had been rammed into the floor. My face was undoubtedly red with embarrassment.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were here. I’ll just be leaving,” I muttered, starting to walk away from him.

“No, stay! We haven’t talked in forever,” he said, pulling out the chair that I had just tripped over and offering it to me.

“I really need to finish this essay though,” I replied, trying to make an excuse not to talk to him. Harry Potter was definitely not the person I wanted to talk to at the moment. 

“I want to apologize for not answering any of your letters this summer. I was still a bit bitter about everything,” he explained, taking a seat.

“It’s alright,” I told him, standing awkwardly by the chair.

“Come on, sit down,” he begged.

“But I really-”

“Sit,” he commanded. He sounded so determined to talk to me that I had no choice but to listen, so I sat down in the chair I had tripped over and looked around us. “So how was your summer?” I cringed once again. Why does everyone ask this question?

“It was- uh- it was alright,” I lied. “How was yours?”

“It was something,” he laughed.

“What do you mean?” I placed my bag on the floor and pulled my sleeve down further.

“You know Professor Slughorn?” I nodded. “Dumbledore took me to the place where he was staying and introduced us as he tried to convince Slughorn to come back to Hogwarts.”

“Tried to?” I asked in question of his particular phrasing.

“Yeah. It seemed as if Dumbledore had already asked him to come back, but he’d turned it down several times. I was like the bargaining chip, I guess.” Harry shrugged and ran a hand through his messy, black hair.

“So Slughorn only came back to Hogwarts because of you?”

“Mhm. He has a habit of becoming friends with famous people and their relatives or people that show potential. Even has a club for them. Calls it the Slug Club.”

“You’re joking,” I deadpanned. 

“No, I am dead serious.” Harry grinned at me.

“And I assume you’re in it? Being The Boy Who Lived and all,” I asked him. There was no way that Slughorn would pass up an opportunity to become friends with The Boy Who Lived.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Who else is?”

“Well, there’s me, Hermione, Cormac McLaggen, Ginny, Melinda Bobbin, Blaise Zabini, and Hestia and Flora Carrow.” He ticked the people off on his fingers.

“I can see why you, Hermione, and Blaise are there, but why the others?” I asked curiously. Despite not wanting to, I was getting more and more comfortable around Harry once again, as long as I kept a firm grip on my sleeve.

“Cormac has an uncle who is buddies with the Minister of Magic, Melinda’s family owns a load of apothecaries, Slughorn saw Ginny bat-bogey hex another student, and I have no idea about the Carrow’s. They don’t seem to talk much.” I nodded. I was familiar with the Carrows. They were a pair of identical twins with long, brown hair straighter than me. 

“Slughorn sure does like his connections, then,” I smiled shyly.

“You got that right,” Harry replied with a chuckle.

“So, why didn’t-” I was cut off by someone clearing their throat behind me. I spun around in my chair to see Draco standing there, glaring at Harry. His hair was ruffled as if he had run here or had been continuously running his hand through it as he did when he was anxious.

“Potter,” he sneered. His lip curled and his nose crinkled as his silver eyes met Harry’s green ones.

“Malfoy,” Harry spit back with just as much venom.

“Lizzie, I need to talk to you,” Draco said to me without taking his eyes off of Harry. I was reminded by two dogs challenging each other, refusing to take their eyes off of each other and practically growling.

“Okay,” I replied quietly as I stood up. I pulled the strap of my bag over my shoulder and looked to Harry. “I’ll see you later, Harry.”

“Bye, Liz.” Draco grabbed my hand roughly and led me quickly out of the library. Once we were out of earshot of anyone, he spun me around and spoke with almost as much venom to me as he did with Harry.

“Why were you talking to him?” he snapped.

“I didn’t seek him out, if that’s what you’re implying,” I snapped back. “I was looking for a table and he made me sit down with him.”

“Did he ask you any questions about-” His eyes were fiery as they stared into mine.

“No,” I countered firmly, cutting him off.

“Nothing about-”

“No, Draco. We had a normal conversation about our summers, and I didn’t tell him anything about what happened.” I clenched my fist around the strap of my bag and bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from continuing to snap at him.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” he sighed, sliding a hand through his silky hair. “I just- I don’t want anyone to find out, and Harry Potter is the last person I want to have any suspicions.”

“I know, but Harry is still my friend, Draco,” I told him quietly.

“I know.” He ran his tongue over his lips and looked at his shoes. “Speaking of, I uh- have an idea. Instead of actually casting the-”

“This isn’t the place,” I hissed looking around us to see if anyone was within range. My eyes landed on the tip of a shoe peeking out around the corner a few metres away from us. I jerked my head in the direction to indicate to Draco that someone was listening. I took a few silent steps forward towards the shoe and looked around the corner. I furrowed my eyebrows when my eyes landed nothing. The only thing there was the toes of the shoe, which quickly disappeared. I stretched my hand out and it came in contact with something soft and almost fuzzy that I couldn’t see. Grasping it firmly, I pulled it towards me. “Harry?” Harry was standing there looking bloody guilty. Draco came forward and stood by my side with a deadly sneer.

“Potter! What are you doing?” Draco was terrified Harry had heard our conversation and I could tell, though no one else could. His voice was taut and his hands were shaking slightly.

“Going back to my common room. What are you doing, Malfoy?” Harry countered quickly. I had a feeling that Harry wasn’t just talking about this moment. Draco was about to yell at Harry, so I stepped in.

“Gryffindor Tower is that way, Harry,” I spoke quietly, pointing behind Harry. Everyone in Hogwarts knew where Gryffindor Tower was, and it definitely wasn’t in the direction that Draco and I were heading.

“Oh, is it really?” Harry asked, turning bright red.

“Were you following us?” I asked quietly, trying to make him feel guilty with my tone and facial expression. Slytherin through and through.

“I- uh- I-” Harry struggled to come up with an excuse for why he was spying on us.

“Just go,” I muttered, handing him his Invisibility Cloak, which had appeared in my hand. He accepted the cloak and looked up at me with a face full of guilt.

“Liz-”

“Go,” I cut him off. He gave Draco one last glare and me one last look of guilt before he turned and walked away with his head down. I turned and left as well. “Room of Requirement.”

Draco caught up with me and slipped his fingers between mine. His fingers were cool and silky compared to my warm ones. 

We walked in silence to the Room of Requirement, which appeared as the Room Where Everything is Hidden. Draco and I found our way to the Vanishing Cabinet easily, now knowing where it was. I sat on the floor in front of it and Draco remained standing, beginning to pace.

“What were you saying?” I prompted him.

“I have an idea.” He rubbed his face and turned his body towards me.

“And that would be?”

“So we’re supposed to kill Dumbledore, right? You-Know-Who never specified how we are to do it, so instead of casting the Killing Curse, what if we find a backdoor?” His eyebrows furrowed above his eyes.

“I assume you have an idea of a backdoor?” I asked.

“I do,” he whispered. “I purchased a necklace from Borgin and Burkes that I think we can use. It’s cursed to kill whomever touches it.”

“Wouldn’t he suspect it if we just hand him a necklace? I mean this is Albus Dumbledore we’re talking about,” I squinted my eyes at him confusedly.

“That’s where I’m stuck. I have the necklace but I don’t know how to get it to him. I was hoping you could help me there.”

“Alright, give me a second,” I told him quietly. Putting my head in my hands and resting my elbows on my knees, my mind began to race. Draco began to pace once more.

Albus Dumbledore? How were we to get this necklace to him without putting other people in harm or Dumbledore himself suspecting? 

“What if we simply leave it in his office?” I suggested, lifting my head. Draco stopped pacing and looked at me.

“How would we get into his office? Someone would be bound to see us,” he shot my idea down, starting to pace once again.

Okay, so we can’t get into his office. What if we just left it in front of the entrance to his office?

No. Too many flaws. What if someone else came along and touched it? I don’t want to hurt anyone unnecessarily.

What if we mailed it to him?

No. Mail is being monitored. The necklace would surely be caught. 

I balled my hands up into fists and rubbed my eyes vigorously, trying to get ideas flowing. 

“What if we got someone to deliver it for us?” Draco suggested, not stopping his pacing. 

“Who in their right mind would do that?” I grumbled. 

The answer is no one. No one would ever deliver this cursed necklace for us. There was no way we were going to do this.

“What if… what if they weren’t in their right mind?” His pacing stopped suddenly and he spun around to look at me. He walked up to me and sat on the floor in front of me.

“What do you mean?” I asked hesitantly. He picked my hand up in his and squeezed it.

“What if we used the Imperius curse? Then they wouldn’t have a choice. We could make them find Dumbledore and give it to him. We would never be connected.”

“The Imperius curse…” I repeated, scared.

“There’s a Hogsmeade weekend coming up right? We could do it there, give them the necklace, and send them to Dumbledore.”

“But Draco,” I began, “that’s unforgivable.”

“So is killing someone,” he countered. “We don’t have a choice, Liz.” I bit my lip as tears began to well in my eyes. 

“So next week at Hogsmeade,” I choked, “we Imperio someone.”

“Now, we just need the details,” he muttered.

“I can wait in the toilet at The Three Broomsticks, and curse the first person to come in.”

“I don’t want you to cast-”

“We’re in this together,” I snapped.

“Okay,” he replied in surrender, “but I’m going to be in there too.”

“Draco, it’s the girls toilet, and, in case you haven’t noticed, you are a man.”

“I’ll sneak in when no one is looking, but you are not doing this alone. Remember, we’re in this together,” he said, using my own words against me.

“Fine. We then give her the necklace- wrapped up- and send her to give it to Dumbledore. Tell her it’s a birthday present.”

“And then we get the hell out of there.”

“We would have to wait a while. If we leave with her, it’ll look suspicious,” I told him.

“True,” he agreed, rubbing his chin. “Wait. Do you even know how to cast an Imperio?”

“Actually, no,” I realized suddenly.

“Damn,” Draco cursed under his breath.”We’ll figure it out.” He squeezed my hand encouragingly.

“And then this’ll be over,” I sighed. 

I hoped with all of my heart that I was right in hoping that, but, of course, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Hell was just getting started.


	9. Chapter 9

Draco’s POV:

“Hey, Draco,” Liz smiled softly at me. Her auburn hair was twisted into a simple plait down her back, but a few strands fell in her face. She was dressed in her white button-through shirt and skirt uniform, having removed her sweater and robe.

“Hey, love,” I replied as she sat down beside me. We were sitting in the Slytherin common room on the leather sofa in front of the fire.

“How are you?” she asked quietly, snuggling up next to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I slung my arm over her back and rubbed my thumb against her shirt. 

“I’m alive,” I sighed. “You?”

“I’m alive,” she repeated in a whisper. 

We then fell into a comfortable silence where the only noises were of the crackling fire, the quiet sound of the water from the lake, and the hushed voices of the other students working on Merlin knows what. I focused on the sound of the crackling fire and relaxed. The flames made a low whooshing sound that reminded me vaguely of the sound the wind makes when it rushed through the halls. There was an occasional pop or snap of a log settling. The sizzling comforted me.

I leaned my head against Liz’s and took a deep breath. Hogwarts this year was stressing me out beyond belief. The fact that Liz and I were about to attempt to murder a man chilled me to the bones and made me shiver. It was as if ice were coursing through my veins rather than blood.

“Let’s have a picnic,” Lizzie said suddenly, lifting her head and looking at me.

“A picnic?” I asked a bit startled.

“Yeah,” she affirmed. “We could get food from the kitchens and then go to the Room of Requirement. I’m sure it could give us a blanket and a nice place to eat.” Her hair was slipping into her face as she spoke to me and her grey eyes twinkled brighter than I’ve seen for quite a while.

“A picnic.” The idea was preposterous. A picnic? Considering all that we were going through?

“Nevermind, it’s a stupid idea,” she said, frowning, shaking her head, and laying back down on my chest.

“No, wait. I like it,” I replied, not wanting to upset her. “Let’s go have a picnic.”

“Really?” she asked, lifting her head once more.

“Really,” I confirmed. “Come on.” We both stood as I lifted my arm and nodded my head towards it. “Shall we?” With a small nod of her head, she looped her arm through mine.

“We shall.”

Together, our shoes clicked against the stone floor as we made our way to the seventh floor corridor that housed the Room of Requirement. I paced back and forth with Lizzie’s arm still crooked in mine and the door began to appear.

“You go on in, I’ll go to the kitchens and get the food.” I placed a hand on her arm and smiled softly. She nodded and opened the door in front of us with a loud creak. Once it was shut, I turned and began the journey down to the kitchens.

Where had the idea for a picnic come from? Did she just want something to do with me? Whatever her reason, I didn’t care. I loved Lizzie with all of my heart and adored spending time with her, no matter the situation. I was glad that I was going through these tough times with her, though I wasn’t glad she had to. There was no one else in the world who I would rather be around. No one else I would rather hold at night. No one else I would rather kiss. No one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with.

I tickled the pear on the portrait that was the entrance to the kitchens and waited a few seconds as it opened. 

As soon as I stepped inside, I was bombarded by a chorus of ‘Hello’s from the house elves, who were working feverishly to prepare the dinner for that night. I greeted them kindly, remembering Lizzie’s views.

“Hello,” I spoke. “Would there be any chance of me nicking some food for a picnic?”

“But Master Malfoy,” one particular elf with large eyes replied, “tis winter, isn’t it cold for a picnic?” I looked closer at the elf, vaguely recognizing him from somewhere, I just couldn’t place it.

“It’ll be an indoor picnic,” I answered him. He bowed lowly and ran off with the other elves to prepare a small basket filled with food for me and Liz.

The large-eyed elf ran forward grasping the basket carefully. “Dobby hopes Master Malfoy enjoys his picnic.” 

“Thank you,” I replied hesitantly, still trying to place this elf. 

Shaking my head, I turned and walked out of the kitchen. I could swear I had seen that elf somewhere before. Bringing my empty hand to my chin and rubbing a scar, I closed my eyes.

I had gotten that scar by falling down the stairs at Malfoy Manor. An elf with those same large eyes had helped me. I could see him right then in my mind, helping me up.

He used to work for my family, that’s why I recognized him. 

I shook my head once more and realized that I had already arrived at the seventh floor corridor. I paced back and forth and opened the door carefully.

The room that appeared was beautiful. It was a field of grass that reached past my ankle and the occasional bright, yellow flower. I could still see the walls of the room, but the grass spanned for what seemed like ages. I grinned at what the room provided for us.

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Lizzie called to me from the center of the room where a large navy blanket was spread out. She was sitting cross legged on top of the blanket smiling at me brightly.

“It really is,” I replied, trekking through the grass towards her. I sat down across from her, copying her position, and placing the basket down. “Un repas extravagant fourni par les elfes de la maison de Poudlard,” I drawled in a French accent that sounded very authentic and presenting the basket to her in a dramatic fashion.

“Draco, the only French I know is La Belle et La Bête, wi, and bonjour,” she laughed. It was the kind of laugh that I had come to love. The kind where she threw her head back, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to let go. I let myself soak in her image, knowing that I probably wouldn’t see it again for a while.

“In that case, mademoiselle, s'il vous plaît permettez-moi de complimenter comment beau vous regardez aujourd'hui,” I teased her.

“What are you saying?” she asked with a grin on her face.

“I guess you’ll have to find out,” I replied with a wink. 

“You’re insufferable sometimes,” she smiled, reaching into the basket and unloading the food we were provided.

“I try,” I answered, watching her bring out a platter of sandwiches, blueberries, strawberries, croissants (how fitting), two bottles of butterbeer, some cookies, and some sherry tart.

“Oh thank Merlin,” Lizzie sighed when she saw the sherry tart. “I haven’t had any of this since I was poisoned.”

“That seems like it was ages ago, doesn’t it?” I asked after a few seconds as I picked up a plump blueberry and popped it into my mouth. The bitter-sweetness exploded across my tongue as I bit down on it.

“It does,” she replied, biting into a sandwich, chewing carefully as if the sandwich might bite back. After she swallowed she said, “I have a question.”

“Ask away, love,” I answered kindly.

“Do you really want a brother?” she asked, looking me in the eyes. “I remember hearing you say something about it once.” 

“Well, that’s random,” I chuckled.

“Sorry, I’m just curious,” she said quietly.

“No need to apologize, but yes, I do. Ever since I was little, I always wished I had a little brother or sister to play with and protect, you know?” I began to pick at the edge of the blanket we were sitting on, pulling on a thread.

“Why?” she pushed.

“Father always put so much pressure on me to be proper and perfect, but I figured that if I had to share that pressure with someone, it wouldn’t seem so bad,” I shrugged.

“And here I spent so much time wishing I was an only child,” she laughed.

“Why?” 

“Gray and I spend so much time arguing that it seems we are more animostic than kind. Sometimes it just gets to be too much. I have no idea how my mother deals with us.” She took another bite of her sandwich. 

“What’s she like at home? Your mum?” I asked.

“She tries her best to be gentle and loving with us, but there are moments when she snaps. What are your parents like?” She smiled softly as she spoke of her mum, as if she was thinking of a good memory.

“My mum is sweet. She never yells or curses or loses her temper. She’s quite obviously the loving one in their relationship, being the one who hugs me and says she loves me, but my father is hard as stone. He’s very strict and emotionless. He used to be softer and more open, but as I grew older, he began to close himself off.”

“I’m sure he loves you very much,” Liz replied.

“I know, he’s just not the best at showing it.” 

The room was lurched into a silky silence, where the air around us seemed smooth. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, but Liz fidgeted as if she had something bothering her.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Lizzie asked quietly, breaking the silky silence with her beautiful voice.

“I’m not hungry.”

She placed her sandwich down and looked at me with worried eyes. “Do you know what Pansy said to me the other day?” 

“What?” 

“She said that she’s noticed that we’re not eating as much and so has everyone else. They’ve noticed we’re losing weight and said they’re beginning to talk.” She spoke with a low voice, as if she was ashamed and someone would overhear what she was saying.

“Who cares what other people think?” I countered easily.

“I know, but if we don’t eat, we might die of malnutrition or starvation before You-Know-Who gets a chance to kill us.”

“We won’t die, Liz.” 

“Look at yourself, Draco. Don’t tell me you don’t notice at least some weight loss.” I looked down at my body and tried to imagine myself a year ago. Comparing the two images, I realized that I had lost a bit of weight. Not too much, however.

“No, I don’t see it,” I replied, refusing to admit she was right.

“Okay then,” she said firmly, standing up. “Look at me.” She held her arms out to make a point and raised her eyebrows.

I studied her body. She stood before me in her button-through and skirt. Her body was not the same one that I had seen her in this summer. Her hips were less full beneath the cloth of her skirt and her thighs were significantly smaller than they used to be. My eyebrows furrowed.

“You look the same, Draco,” she sighed, picking up on my realization and sitting back down. “So, if I promise to eat more, do you promise to eat more?”

I hesitated before answering, “Yeah,” I whispered. Liz picked up a sandwich and held it out to me. I accepted it carefully and bit into it. She smiled. “You’re crazy, you know.”

“How so?”

“Well, we’re days away from an attempt on a man’s life and here we are, sitting in a field of flowers and laughing. It’s kind of out of place, don’t you think?” I pointed out with an arched eyebrow. 

“It’s not that odd,” she said back, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

“I haven’t seen you laugh like you just did in ages.”

“I feel different in here for some reason,” she said, looking around us. “It’s like You-Know-Who doesn’t exist in here. Like we’re not about to kill Dumbledore. I feel… happy.”

“Le bonheur est incroyable pour vous, mon amour.” I felt a smile tug at my lips. 

“Let’s just pretend for a while that all of that isn’t real. That we are just a happy couple having a picnic in a beautiful meadow,” she begged, ignoring what I had just said.

“That sounds wonderful,” I replied.

“So, teach me some French.”

“I can think of one kind of French you already know,” I smirked, leaning forward.

“Draco!” she laughed. I pushed the picnic food aside to allow me access to her.

My lips connected with hers smoothly and we moved together in sync. She tangled her fingers in my hair and tugged slightly, causing me to moan into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap. Her ankles crossed behind my back.

As I dragged my tongue across her bottom lip, she opened her mouth further, and allowed my tongue to explore her mouth. I slipped my hands up the back of her shirt and rested them against the bare skin there. She shivered and arched her back, pressing herself against me. I ran my fingertips up and down her back, causing further shivering.

I pulled away and tucked her loose hair behind her ear. I trailed kisses across her jawline and down her neck until I found the spot the made her moan. She tilted her head and continued to tug on my hair. I sucked on her sweet spot until I was sure I left a mark.

“At this rate, you’re going to get a stiffy and I’m going to have to take care of it,” she laughed.

“Would that be so bad?”


	10. Chapter 10

Lizzie’s POV:

Today was the day. Today was the day that had caused me so much anxiety for the last few weeks. Today was the day that Draco and I were going to Imperio some poor student. Today was the day that Dumbledore was going to die.

I sat on my bed in my dormitory, wrapped up in a thick coat and my Slytherin tie. My hands were protected by a pair of sleek, black, leather gloves. I was shaking with anxiety from the prospect of what was going to happen today. Normally, I would be excited for a Hogsmeade visit, but today I was terrified. 

“You’re going to Hogsmeade, right Liz?” Pansy asked me from her own side of the dormitory where she was slipping her arms into an elegant jacket that only she would wear. 

No, I’m just sitting here wrapped up in all of my winter clothing because I’m cold.

“Yeah,” I replied with a shaky voice, my hand heading involuntarily to my neck where Draco’s Christmas present was tucked. It had become a habit of mine to grip the necklace whenever I was worried or scared.

“Do you want to walk with me?” She wrapped her scarf around her neck and pulled her short hair out of the way.

“Actually, I’m waiting for Draco,” I told her quietly.

“Oh,” she said, “Well have fun. I’ll see you later.” As she started to walk to the door, Astoria popped her head in the room.

“Hey, Liz,” Astoria spoke, “Draco wanted me to come get you. He’s waiting in the common room for you.”

“Thanks,” I stuttered, standing up and shaking my arms out to try and get rid of my shakes, to no avail.

“Why are you so nervous?” Pansy asked me nosily, turning around.

My mind began to pitch, looking for a suitable excuse to appease everyone. “I’m going on a date with Draco,” I sputtered out quickly.

“Oh sweetie,” Pansy laughed. “Haven’t you two been dating for like a year?”

“Uh- yeah, sure,” I replied quietly. “I should get going.” I hurried from the room before Pansy could ask any more questions. She’d always been a girl of many words, especially when she was curious about something.

Once the door to the dormitory was shut behind me, I allowed myself to release a small breath that I hadn’t realized I had been holding. However, I knew that that encounter wasn’t going to be the roughest thing today. 

I forced my feet to walk down the girls’ dormitory hallway to the common room where Draco was waiting for me, anxiously. He was sitting in a emerald green, velvet chair off to the side, leaning his elbows on his knees and bouncing his leg. He was wearing a thick, black, winter coat and leather gloves that looked almost identical to mine. His eyes were scanning the room quickly, as if he thought someone had caught onto our plan. When they landed on me, he leapt to his feet and darted his eyes around to see if anyone had noticed his jumpiness. I made my way over to him and gave him a small, fake smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes. 

“Ready?” I asked him, my voice cracking hopelessly. 

“No,” he replied honestly.

I held my hand out to him. “Me neither.” He slipped his fingers gently between mine and I squeezed his hand. 

Together, we shuffled our feet hesitantly towards the village of Hogsmeade. It was obvious that we were both terrified, for our hands were shaking in rhythm and we walked as if we were moving through Marmite. Neither of us spoke on the trip, knowing that trying would mean failing. 

Outside, snow was falling in large chunks, and, had the situation been different, I would have revelled in its beauty, but, with my current predicament, I barely acknowledged the fact that it was snowing at all. On the sides of the path, the large, pine trees were drooping from the weight of the snow collecting on their branches. I was reminded vaguely of Christmas time, which was approaching faster than I was anticipating. The fact that it was already October and snowing profusely showed how fast this year was going.

I watched my feet take step after step over the weathered and snowy stones on the path to Hogsmeade and prayed that time would slow down. All I wanted to do was to run back to Hogwarts and hide under my covers until the world was a better place with no Voldemort. However, I knew that that was never going to be an option if I wanted to keep my family alive. 

“Should we just head straight to The Three Broomsticks?” Draco murmured under his breath towards me. I lifted my head and looked around us. Sure enough, we had arrived in Hogsmeade.

“Oh- uh- yeah, I guess,” I replied with a shaky voice. 

The Three Broomsticks was packed full of students and professors alike. Laughter was abundant in the room as was the buzz of chatter and the scraping of utensils as people ate. I wanted to sit down with Draco and have a normal date as I had told Pansy I was doing, similar to what I saw Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas doing; they were sitting in a booth together, seeming to be sucking on each others faces. 

“There’s a table open towards the back over there,” Draco spoke over the noise, pointing to a empty table in the back corner. We carefully stepped our way through the maze of tables to the one that was calling our names. 

Draco, still being the quite gentleman despite the knowledge of what we were about to do, pulled my chair out for me. I nodded my head in acknowledgment and took a seat. He sat down across from me, placed his elbows upon the table, and rested his chin on his folded hands.

“You have it, right?” I asked him, just realizing that I hadn’t actually seen the necklace.

His eyes darted around to look for eavesdroppers, but with all the chatter it would have been tough to hear me even if I had shouted. Without uttering a word, he patted his chest and I immediately knew what he was saying. ‘Right here.’ He had the necklace hidden beneath his jacket, wrapped up very securely so as to not curse himself.

“So do we just wait here until we see someone go in? Or do we go in now and wait for someone?” I was just now seeing all of the little flaws in our plan, my anxiety taking over and whispering in my ear every possible thing that could go wrong. 

What if I don’t cast the curse right and the person raises the alarm?

What if the necklace somehow touches Draco?

What if there’s another person in the loo and they see everything that happens?

 

What if, what if, what if….

“Let’s wait here a little while longer and then go in to wait for someone. We could order a butterbeer?” He nodded encouragingly to me, noticing my anxiousness and trying to ease me a bit.

“Alright,” I replied quietly. Draco stood and made his way to the bar where Madam Rosmerta stood pouring drinks and wiping any surface she could reach. I watched him hold up two fingers and mouth something to the woman, not being able to hear it over the other voices. Madam Rosmerta nodded briefly and lifted two glass cups from below the bar, turning around to fill them from the barrel behind her.

“Here you go, love,” he told me, setting the frothy goblet of liquid in front of me. He sat opposite of me and took a sip of his butterbeer. I slipped my gloves off and wrapped my fingers around the cup. Immediately, I felt the warmth seep into my veins and warm my skin. The ice in my veins began to melt. I visibly relaxed and Draco noticed. The edges of his lips twitched as if he was going to smile.

Closing my eyes, I brought the cup to my lips and took a small sip. The liquid slid down my throat, warming me up. 

Butterbeer reminded me of childhood innocence. The first time I had ever had it was in my first year with Grayson. He smuggled me back a bottle from a Hogsmeade trip and I chugged it all in the library, being unable to stop drinking. I thought it was so delicious, I couldn’t stop and that was how I was now. I continued to drink until the liquid was gone. 

“This brings back memories,” I sighed. Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see that instead of drinking his butterbeer, Draco was watching the restroom. His eyebrows furrowed in thought. “What are you thinking?” I mumbled, scared of his answer.

“I think we should go now,” he said. “No one’s gone in for a while.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t the faintest idea of how long I was reminiscing about my younger days, so I didn’t know how long Draco had been watching the toilet.

“No one’s looking, let’s go.” Draco stood up quickly and hurried his feet to the girls toilet. Once he was in, he held the door open and turned to say something to me and noticed that I was still sitting at our table. He waved frantically at me and suddenly, the world felt like it was moving in slow motion. I forced my legs to straighten, feeling them shaking incredulously. Walking towards the loo, I kept my eyes fixed on Draco still waving at me and tried to walk faster. “Lizzie, You got to focus or we’re going to get caught.” I said nothing in reply but nodded. Secretly, I think I was hoping to be caught so Draco and I wouldn’t have to go through this. “Alright, I’m going to hide in the stall and you wait here,” he whispered.

“Okay,” I squeaked, my voice mostly failing me. Draco turned and hid in the stall, pulling the wooden door shut behind him. I gulped and leaned on the wall, ready for a wait. Pulling my wand from my pocket, I shook my head to clear my head of the anxiety that was haunting me. “Draco, I’m scared.” I was turning my wand around in my trembling hands. The beautiful Hornbeam wood swirled around the dragon-heartstring core.

“Me too, love,” he replied, “but we have to do this. For our families.” I nodded as if he could see me and took a deep breath, closing my eyes, and trying to listen to the clatter outside of the toilet. 

The voices were still audible but were greatly muffled, almost like they were speaking through a thick blanket. I could no longer hear the scraping of utensils on plates due to the separation the door created. Occasionally I could hear a loud burst of laughter from someone who was obviously living a better life than me at the moment. Forcing the thought from my mind, I attempted to see if I could hear footsteps to indicate someone walking towards the toilets.

After about five minutes of listening intently, I heard heavy footsteps approaching. My eyes snapped open. “Draco!” I hissed. “Someone’s coming.” He didn’t answer, but I could hear him shifting slightly.

Pushing myself off of the wall, I gripped my wand tighter and planted my feet firmly. My stomach began to churn violently, as if a group of buzzards were flying around inside. 

The wooden door was pushed open, and once it had shut behind the person, I lifted my wand and pointed it. “Imperio.” Madam Rosmerta’s face had turned from one of confusion to one of complete complacency. “Shit, shit, shit.” I muttered. 

“What?” Draco asked as he pushed his way out of the stall. When his eyes landed on Madam Rosmerta, his face contorted oddly. “Lizzie!” he hissed. “We said student! How is Madam Rosmerta going to waltz out of her pub and to Dumbledore?”

“I don’t know!” I replied, feeling tears begin to well in my eyes. “I panicked! I’m sorry!” Draco brought his hands up to his head, pushing his hair back. He began to pace back and forth murmuring something to himself. I realized how bad I had messed up and the tears began to flow down my face. I stood there crying silently while Draco paced.

“Alright,” he said suddenly, not stopping his pacing. “Alright, okay. This isn’t too bad.” He stopped pacing and turned towards me. “We can just tell her to Imperio the next student to come in and send them with the package.” He took one large stride towards me and placed his hands on either side of my face, wiping my tears away with his thumbs. “It’s alright, Liz. Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry,” I stuttered, rubbing my eyes furiously. “Let’s get this done before someone else comes in. You talk to her. Merlin knows I would mess it up.” Without making any acknowledgment of my last phrase, he nodded and turned to Madam Rosmerta as I breathed unevenly.

“Madam Rosmerta,” he started, “I want you to cast the Imperius curse upon the next female, Hogwarts student to enter this restroom, and give them this package. You will tell them to deliver it to Albus Dumbledore and not let anyone know about anything about this. After completing this, you will go through your life as if this conversation never happened and act as normal as you always are. Do I make myself clear?” 

Madam Rosmerta remained blank and overall complacent throughout Draco’s commands, but upon his last question, she nodded slowly. Draco reached under his coat and pulled out a small, brown package, the size of a textbook, handing it to Madam Rosmerta. She accepted it with stiff hands and drew her wand, aiming it towards the door. 

“Come here,” Draco hummed quietly. He gently grabbed my upper arm and pulled me into the stall that he had hidden in himself. We stood there silently, facing each other. 

I studied his face. His eyebrows were drawn closely together above his handsome, silver eyes, a crease forming between them. His irises were one of my favorite parts of his body. They were silver as a gleaming diamond ring, and shimmered like the diamond itself sometimes. I could sit here all day and just stare into his eyes. 

His jaw was clenched tightly as he stared back at me, one of the muscles twitching with the exertion. I stared at his lips next. The pink, plump stretch of his lips were pursed lightly. They looked soft to the touch, and I wanted to kiss them more than anything at the moment. 

“Quit staring at me,” he said suddenly. 

I quickly diverted my eyes to my feet and apologized.

“No, I’m sorry for snapping,” he sighed, taking my hand. I brought my eyes back to his and saw he was already looking at me. 

“It’s alright,” I whispered.

“You know I love you, Liz, right?” he asked me, bringing his other hand to hold mind in both of his.

“Yes.”

“Good,” he spoke.

“And you know I love you?” I placed my other hand on top of his.

“Of cou-” he began to reply, but suddenly the chaos outside the restroom became louder and then decrescendoed as the door was opened. My eyes widened to the size of two pound coin. Draco lifted one hand and held his index finger to his lips, stopping me from cringing outloud. 

“Madam Rosmerta, nice to see-” someone began, to be cut off by a curse slipping from the lips of the owner of the pub. 

“Imperio,” Madam Rosmerta hissed. “Deliver this package to Albus Dumbledore and let no one know of your activities.” Draco’s jaw clenched at the woman’s instructions to the girl.

I heard a quiet shuffle of feet and the noise once again became louder as the student left the loo. It began to decrescendo, but became louder as, I assumed, Madam Rosmerta left the room as well. 

After a few seconds of silence, I figured it was safe to speak. “Who was it?” I hadn’t recognized the voice of the girl who had been cursed, but something in Draco’s terse expression said he did.

“Katie Bell,” he whispered. “Gryffindor. She’s on their quidditch team.” I couldn’t connect the name to a face, but it sounded slightly familiar.

I cleared my throat before talking next. “What do we do next? I don’t think we can just waltz out of here. What if Katie had made a scene? What if they’re coming to find the culprit now?!” I began to panic slightly, my breathing increasing quite a bit. 

Draco, noticing my anxiety, tried to calm me down. “Shhh, no one’s coming. Bell’s not telling anyone, remember? It was part of the instructions.” He placed his hands on my shoulders. “We can just cast a disillusionment charm over ourselves and sneak out.”

“Okay, okay,” I heaved. 

Draco cast the disillusionment charm on both us, knowing that I probably couldn’t have cast it correctly. I felt as if cold water had been poured on me and I watched as Draco’s form disappeared. He hadn’t actually disappeared all together, he just seemed to have adopted the color of our surroundings. “Did it work?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Now let’s get out of here.” What I assumed to be his hand travelled down my arm until it ended up clasping my hand. I turned and unlocked the door to the stall and pushed it open, leading Draco out. On the way towards the door, I caught a glance in the mirror. Draco and I had become invisible and it was unnerving to not be able to see myself.

The door to the loo opened and I felt a tug on my hand. Assuming that Draco had opened the door and was already leaving, I walked through the door frame, following the direction of the tug. 

We weaved our way through the tables, avoiding legs and feet and people who suddenly stood up. I looked over to the bar and saw Madam Rosmerta. She was pouring a firewhiskey for a middle-aged wizard in deep purple robes. Just from watching her for a few seconds, I couldn’t tell at all that she was under the Imperius.

Draco came to a stop by the door. “Wait, Liz,” he whispered, his lips somewhere very close to my left ear. “It’ll be odd if the door opens and no one’s there opening it. We’ll wait for someone else to open it and slip out. Once we’re outside, we can go to an alley and remove the charm.” 

There was no way that anyone would be able to hear him whispering to me over all of the noise, but a Hufflepuff a few meters away from us glanced around worriedly.

So Draco and I stood in complete silence by the door, our hands still holding onto each other desperately. It was a few minutes before someone opened the door, but when they did, Draco tugged on my hand roughly and we darted through the door after some Ravenclaw boy. 

The second we were out the door, Draco yanked me to the right and around a corner between two buildings. The alley was thin and dark. I was studying our surroundings to make sure that there was no one was around when suddenly, I could see my chest again. I whipped my head towards Draco, and sure enough, there he was, looking handsome in the small flurries falling from the sky. 

I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his scarf, breathing in his scent. The peppermint smell helped me calm down slightly. His arms snaked their way around my waist and pulled me close so my hips were flush against his body. “It’s over,” he whispered.

I pulled back and looked into Draco’s silver eyes. “We should stay here in Hogsmeade for a bit while… you know… so no one gets suspicious.” 

“Good idea,” he replied. “Should we head to Honeydukes?”

“Erm,” I sighed, watching my breath dissipate in the air. “Sure.” Draco nodded and slipped his hand into mine. Our feet shuffled through the snow that was quickly gathering on the stones of the road. The chill seeped through my coat, leaving me shivering slightly. 

Maybe it wasn’t the cold, but the deed that Draco and I had followed through with.

Draco opened the door to Honeydukes and held it open for me. Nodding my head in thanks, I stepped through the threshold to be accosted by the smells and noises that everyone associated with the sweets shop. The air was sopping with the invisible smell of the thousands of various types of sugary delicacies that were offered for purchase. 

The shop was filled with strictly Hogwarts students. I saw a seventh year Ravenclaw rolling a sugar quill between his fingers with a studious expression on his face. 

The instant I entered the shop, it was as if a spell was cast upon me, for my mood improved by ten fold. As if he were reading my mind, Draco said, “Is it just me or can Honeydukes improve any mood?”

I turned my head to him and managed a small, teasing smile. “It’s just you.”


	11. Chapter 11

Lizzie’s POV:

When life gets tough, I am blessed with a nice dream at night. 

“Come on, slowpokes!” I laughed, hurrying ahead of my mum and Grayson, who were dragging behind. 

It was the summer before fifth year and my mum had decided to take us out on a trip to the Tower of London, the castle fortress on the bank of the River Thames. I had never been and was more than excited to learn the history of such an old building. 

I was racing ahead of my mum and Grayson, furiously reading each plaque of information available before racing to the next.

It had been a prison during the 16th and 17th centuries. It had a very lengthy and bloody history of torture and death, though only seven people had been executed inside its walls.

“Slow down, Liz! We have all day!” Gray groaned, already tired of trying to keep up with me.

“Oh, let her have her fun,” my mum laughed. 

I was dragging my family around the Tower Green towards the Scaffold Site, where executions used to take place. 

When we reached the area, my eyes fell upon the memorial. It was a large circle of blue/green-tinged glass with a crystal pillow in the center with an indent in the center, as if something invisible were resting on it. The glass circle was suspended like a table above another circle, this one made of granite. Around this granite circle, words were engraved.

“‘Gentle visitor pause awhile,” I read aloud to my family, “where you stand death cut away the light of many days, here jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life, may they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage, under there restless skies’.”

“That’s intense,” Grayson cringed. He had never been one for history, especially the bloody kind.

“This is where the only executions in the Tower took place. There were seven,” I explained. “Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII (you know, the ‘divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.’ thing); Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, the last Plantagenet Princess; Queen Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII; Jane, Viscountess Rochford, wife of Anne Boleyn’s brother; Lady Jane Grey, uncrowned queen of 9 days who was only 16; Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex; and Lord Hastings.”

“Jeez,” my mum muttered, “That’s a lot of dead people.”

“They were all beheaded with an axe, save for Queen Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded with a sword. All were clean and swift except for Margaret Pole’s, who had her head and shoulders hacked to pieces.”

“Too much information,” Gray visibly winced.

“A lot of the people who died here are still here supposedly,” I smirked at Grayson, knowing this particular piece of information would unnerve him. “Queen Anne Boleyn haunts that chapel over there.” I pointed to the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula across the Tower Green. “She’s said to walk around with her head under her arm. Henry VI, Margaret Pole, Lady Jane Grey, and the Princes in the Tower are also said to still be here.”

“The Princes in the Tower?” my mum questioned curiously. Unlike Grayson, she shared my fascination with history and ghosts.

“Mum, no,” Gray groaned, knowing I was about to launch into another bloody story.

“Oh, this is a good one,” I grinned.

“Can we pass this story?” Gray begged, looking a bit woozy.

“The Princes in the Tower are the two brothers Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury. They were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville surviving at the time of their father’s death in 1483. When they were 12 and 9, they were staying here at the orders of their uncle, Lord Protector: Richard, Duke of Gloucester, until they disappeared.”

“They disappeared?” Mum cocked her head to the side.

“They just disappeared. To this day, no one knows what happened to them. Edward was about to be coronated and it is said their uncle murdered them to take the throne for himself.”

“What kind of uncle is that cruel?” Gray asked, rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead, which had collected a thin sheen of sweat.

“In 1674, workmen dug up a wooden box that had two human skeletons inside. They were found buried 10 feet under the stairs leading to the chapel of the White Tower.”

“Those have to be the Princes. You said they were 12 and 9 when they died and the skeletons were small.” My mum seemed convinced that those skeletons were the Princes.

“Those weren’t the first children’s skeletons found here though. Two other kids were found in an old chamber that had been walled up.”

“So which were the Princes?” Mum asked hungrily. 

“No one knows.” I grinned at my family. I was sure I looked like a madman.

“What?!” Grayson exclaimed. “You can’t tell a story like that and end it with ‘no one knows’!”

“Well, no one does,” I defended myself. 

“Bloody hell,” Grayson huffed, upset with my story.

“In 1789, workmen repairing St. George's Chapel in Windsor, rediscovered the vault of Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville, discovering an attached vault. This vault was found to contain the coffins of two unidentified children. However, no inspection or examination was carried out and the tomb was resealed. The tomb was inscribed with the names of two of Edward IV's children: George, 1st Duke of Bedford who had died at the age of 2, and Mary of York who had died at the age of 14; both had died before their father. However, two lead coffins clearly labelled as George Plantagenet and Mary Plantagenet were discovered elsewhere in the Chapel, and were moved into the adjoining vault of Edward IV's, but no one made any effort to identify the other children.”

“Bloody hell,” Grayson said.

“Long story short, no one knows what happened to the Princes of the Tower.”

Though most find this dream to be creepy or unnerving, I found it calming. I was with my family before our lives took a turn for the worst and we were happy. What I wouldn’t give to go back...


	12. Chapter 12

Draco’s POV: 

“Malfoy!” someone hissed into my ear. I furrowed my eyebrows intensely and rolled over, draping my arm over my ear so as to avoid any more interruptions to my sleep. It was rare that I managed to get any sleep at all, and to interrupt that would be a death wish. I was giving this person a second chance at life. “Malfoy, get up!” I recognized the voice as Blaise’s. Figuring he might realize that I did not want to be woken, I growled lowly. “Merlin’s pants, Draco,” he huffed. I heard his footsteps trail away and was slowly slipping back into the sweet grip of sleep when my duvet was ripped off of me. Cold tendrils slithered their way around my body, causing gooseflesh to erupt across my exposed skin.

Deciding that was enough, I shot up angrily with my arms wrapped around my bare chest.. “What?” I snapped.

“Did you hear about Katie Bell?” he asked me with a wide smirk on his dark skin. My stomach suddenly weighed significantly less and leapt up into my chest.

Trying to play my nervousness off, I sniggered angrily. “You woke me up to talk about a bloody Gryffindor?” I reached down and drew my blanket back around my body, instantly warming up.

“Well, yes,” he rolled his eyes, “but don’t tell me you didn’t hear what happened to her on the road from Hogsmeade.” 

“Zabini, I came back from Hogsmeade early and went straight to bed, so no, I did not hear what happened to Katie Bell, the Gryffindor, on the road from Hogsmeade.”

“There’s no need to get so snappy with me.” He held his hands up in defense and tried to feint an innocent looking face.

“I swear to all things vengeful I will hex you into next week,” I curled my lip at the boy in front of me.

“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “You take the fun out of everything. Remember when you used to-”

“Blaise.” I cut him off sharply. “Katie Bell, remember?”

“Oh, yes!” he exclaimed. “She was cursed.”

“What?” I gawked in surprise.

“Yeah, Potter saw it all. Said she flew into the air and thrashed around in the snow. She was sent straight to St. Mungo’s.”

“How’d it happen?” I pulled my blankets up to my chin and wrapped them around my shoulders to try to hide how much I was shaking.

“That’s the thing. See, I was listening into the conversation that Potter and his pals had with McGonagall and apparently, Bell touched a cursed necklace that was meant for Dumbledore.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Know anything about that?”

Shaking my head quickly, I denied any involvement in the deed. 

“What time is it?” I asked Blaise.

“Almost lunch, I think. Why?”

“Have you seen Liz?” I muttered, rolling off of my bed and slipping a t-shirt and black jeans on. 

“Last I saw her, she was in the common room,” he replied easily, lounging back on my bed. 

I didn’t bother putting shoes or socks on as I hurried from the room. “By the way,” I paused before I actually stepped out of the room. “Get off of my bed.” At that I took a sharp left turn and jogged to the common room.

There weren’t many students in the dark room seeing as it was almost lunch time. I noticed Liz right away, who was curled up in a round, emerald green chair beside one of the large windows that opened up to the lake. She had an open book placed on her lap but it was forgotten as she was staring out the window at a grindylow that was wrestling with an odd, orange colored fish.

I padded my feet over to her chair and took a seat in one nearby. “Liz-”

“Have you ever noticed the merpeople in the lake?” she interrupted me without taking her eyes from the green glow of the water.

“Lizzie, we-”

“One of them came up to the window and stayed there staring at me for quite a while. You only just missed it-”

“Lizzie, it’s about Katie!” I rushed, keen to get the news out before she began another phrase about the lake. Her head snapped from the lake window to my face so quickly that I was afraid she might’ve gotten whiplash. She darted her eyes around the room to make sure we were out of earshot before responding.

“What about her?” She whispered, closing her book and bringing her legs out from under her.

“She touched the necklace,” I spoke in a low tone, so anyone that might be listening to us wouldn’t be able to hear.

“She’s dead?” Liz squeaked, her hands brought up to her mouth.

“No, I don’t think so. Blaise said she only thrashed around a bit before being sent to St. Mungo’s.” I reached forward and took Lizzie’s shaking hand in my own. It was freezing and made me flinch internally.

“So even if it had been delivered, he wouldn’t have died?” she whispered under her breath.

“I’m not sure. I only just heard from Blaise.” 

There was a beat of silence before she spoke. “This changes everything. If Katie told anyone the package was for Dumbledore, he knows someone's trying to kill him.”

“It’s alright,” I consoled her in hushed tones. “We’ll figure it out. Remember we’re in this together; not just one of us will take the fall if it comes to that.” I said this to comfort her, but I knew better. If we were to get caught and take a fall, it would be me taking the blame and definitely not Lizzie. I swore to myself that I would protect her and I would, even if it landed me a cell in Azkaban.

“Your grief is my grief,” she mumbled. I could see the cogs whirring in her mind as she already began to think of our next attempt on the great wizard’s life.

“Your grief is my grief,” I confirmed, squeezing her hand. “I love you, Liz. A lot. You have slipped under my skin, invaded my blood, and seized my heart in the most unexpected way.” I had said this partially to distract her from our conversation, but also just to remind her that I loved her.

“I love…” She trailed off and furrowed her eyebrows deeply, mouthing words to herself. “Invaded your blood…” She started chewing on her lip, the cogs spinning faster and faster. Until suddenly she hissed, “Draco! That’s it!” I jumped from the suddenness.

“What’s it?” I asked, kind of scared. Lizzie could be terrifying sometimes, let me tell you.

“Poison! We could slip a poison into a gift and leave it in front of his office. Since Christmas is coming up soon, the timing would be perfect,” she rambled quickly, the idea tumbling from her mouth. “We could say it’s from an anonymous student, who just wanted to thank him for being such a great headmaster. Or even better! Since Madam Rosmerta is still under the Imperius curse, we could lace a bottle of wine with some sort of poison and have her give it to Dumbledore.”

“You’re terrifying, but I think you’re onto something,” I muttered, rubbing my mouth with a hand.

“It’s perfect!” she whisper yelled. A piece of auburn hair fell into her face and I brushed it back thoughtfully, my own cogs whirring in my head.

“What if, instead of having Madam Rosmerta give the wine directly to Dumbledore, we somehow get a professor to buy it as a gift to Dumbledore. That way Madam Rosmerta’s Imperius curse isn’t discovered and traced back to us, should something go awry.”

Liz suddenly looked skeptical. “A professor? Are you sure, Draco? I don’t want anyone to take the blame. Especially not a professor.”

“But if Madam Rosmerta gives the mead to Dumbledore herself, he’s such a great wizard that he might recognize the Imperius curse on her. This way the trail is tougher to track.”

“Alright,” she said hesitantly. “But what teacher is foolish enough to buy poisoned wine?” I looked to my shoes and ran through the Hogwarts professors in my mind. Only one struck me as foolish, and upon making up my mind, I looked up to Liz to see her staring at me with a worried look.

“Slughorn,” I murmured. She nodded slowly, having had the same idea as me.

“How are we to convince him to buy it though?”

“We can just casually drop hints to him about how much Dumbledore loves Madam Rosmerta’s mead, and hopefully he will pick up on it.”

A beat of silence. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she whispered.

“Neither can I,” I sighed. “Votre chagrin est mon chagrin.”

“You know I don’t speak all that much French,” she frowned.

“I said ‘your grief is my grief’,” I explained.

“Teach me to say it,” she said.

“Alright, voh-trey.”

“Voh-trey.”

“Shah-grine.”

“Chah-grin.”

“No, shah-grine,” I pronounced the word slowly for her.

“Shah-grine,” she repeated with a nod.

“Eh. Like the letter ‘a’.”

“Eh.”

“Mon.”

“Mun.”

“Moh-n. Say it fast, like there’s no ‘o’.”

“Moh-n.”

“Shah-grine.”

“Shah-grine.”

“Votre chagrin,” I said the phrase slowly.

“Votre chagrin.”

“Est mon chagrin.”

“Est mon chagrin.”

“Good, now all together. Votre chagrin est mon chagrin.”

“Votre chagrin est mon chagrin.”

“Your grief is my grief.”


	13. Chapter 13

Lizzie’s POV:

I was walking to The Great Hall for lunch when I ran into Hermione for the first time this year. Quite literally ran into her. 

I turned the corner by the library, running the various homework assignments I already had when a body hit mine, causing me to land on my bum. I dropped my Potions and Alchemy books, parchment sliding across the floor to the scuffed shoes of she-who-had-knocked-me-down.

“Oh, Merlin! I am so sorry!” she said shrilly, bending down and picking up the parchment by her feet.

“It’s alright,” I huffed. My day was gradually getting worse and worse. I had almost slept through breakfast, only having time to grab an apple from the table before I sprinted my way to my first class. Then in Alchemy, Professor Sweeney had assigned a two foot essay about the transmutation of gold into silver due the next day. 

“Here,” she offered an outstretched hand, “let me help you up.” Hesitantly, I accepted her hand and stood up with my books back in my arms. “Oh, Lizzie. I didn’t know it was you.”

“Yep, it’s me,” I muttered, finding this particular conversation quite awkward. Hermione and I hadn’t spoken to each other since the end of fifth year - before I had a tattoo burned into my skin tying me to the dark wizard who wanted her best friend dead. I wonder how that conversation would go? “Well I’ll erm… I’ll see you around,” I murmured, trying to get out of that particular conversation.

“No, wait. Let me walk with you for a little bit. I want to catch up with you. I feel bad that we haven’t spoken in so long. Where are you heading?” Her bushy hair was pulled back into a ponytail behind her head, but a few curly strands had fallen out and occasionally fell into her face. She would blow them away without a second thought.

“I was actually heading to lunch,” I gritted, not wanting to talk to Harry or any of his friends due to the guilt that has been haunting me for ages.

“Oh, well I’ll walk with you there. Tell me how you’re life’s been since we last spoke.” She grinned at me and nodded her head towards the path to the Great Hall. We walked slowly together in time.

“It’s sure been something,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Alright, I can tell that you don’t want to talk to me.” She stopped me with a hand on my arm. No shit, Sherlock. “Did I do something? Was it because I made no attempt to talk to you these last few months.”

“No, it’s nothing you did. It’s me,” I sighed.

“You can talk to me, Liz. Nothing you say to me will be shared with anyone.” She reached a hand up to her face and tucked the stray curls of hair behind her ear.

“It’s not something I want to talk about, and even if I did, it wouldn’t just be me taking the fall,” I sputtered. Oh no. I should not have said that. My face heated up greatly and I clenched my teeth in self-punishment.

“Is it Draco?” Hermione whispered.

“I can’t say,” I grumbled. I cannot believe that I had actually said that there is another person involved with what I was doing.

“I understand,” she sighed with a sad smile. “But I want you to know that I will always be here for you. If you ever need to talk, just find me. I’ll most likely be in the library from here to the end of the year. Gotta prepare for my exams.”

“Alright,” I replied. 

\-----

“Hey, Liz.” Draco approached me in the common room later in the night that Hermione had spoken to me. I was reading a muggle book by Harper Lee called To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Hello,” I replied, placing the scratch piece of parchment I was using as a bookmark in between the pages. Draco was wearing his heavier jacket, Slytherin scarf, and dragon leather gloves. “Have you been outside?” I moved over in my chair by the window to the lake to allow room for Draco. Even if I hadn’t moved over, there would have been plenty of room for him, seeing as the chair was the size of a love seat. 

He removed his jacket and draped it over the arm of the chair, sitting down beside me. “I have actually. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He draped his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head upon his chest.

“I’m all ears.”

“Well, I’ve just come back from Hogsmeade-” His chest rumbled under my head.

“Hogsmeade? But it’s a weeknight. How’d you manage it?” I interrupted curiously.

“Disillusionment charm,” he said as if it were obvious. “Anyway, I went to The Three Broomsticks and I- uh-” his voice dropped to a whisper and his eyes glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching us. “I spoke to Madam Rosmerta.”

“You what?” I whisper-yelled in surprise. 

“I spoke to her and I told her that Professor Slughorn might be coming asking for a bottle of mead as a gift to Headmaster Dumbledore, and that, if that were to happen, she is to pour the phial I gave to her into the mead in secret. I also told her to forget who told her to pour the poison in, so no one will be able to trace the idea back to us.”

“What poison did you use?” I asked.

“Well, I was going to use Bloodroot,” he made solid eye contact with me, both of us thinking back to the time that I had been poisoned, “but I didn’t want to risk the coma part, so I tried to find a stronger one. I was snooping through Slughorn’s stores when I stumbled on a few moonseeds.”

“Moonseeds?” 

“They’re a little, crescent shaped seed that’s really poisonous, so I took a handful and ground them up. Best of all, they’re tasteless.” As he spoke, he rubbed my arm soothingly, knowing what I was probably feeling inside.

To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. On one hand I was happy to be taking another step in the direction towards what would hopefully be safety for me and Draco, but on the other hand, Draco and I were trying to take a man’s life. We were trying to take this man’s fate and alter it for our own good. What a Slytherin thing to do. Anything to ensure our own personal success, right?

“What if this time fails too?” I muttered. “What if this time we get caught. I know I keep repeating this all, but I’m scared. I don’t want to lose you.” With my right hand, which had been resting upon his chest, I began to draw circles on his shirt.

“Lizzie, look at me.” Draco lifted my chin, bringing my focus to his eyes, which were shining with so much emotion that I shivered. “You are not going to lose me. We are in this together, remember? If you ever have doubts about this again, just keep repeating that to yourself. We are in this together.” With my bottom lip caught between my teeth, I nodded.

“I’m tired, Draco,” I choked out, feeling, for what felt like the thousandth time, tears well in my eyes. The sting made me bite my lip harder.

“Go to sleep, love,” he replied sweetly, hugging my body closer to his. 

“But this isn’t a kind of tired that sleep can fix, a kind that won’t let me dream. I’m tired of all of this. I’m tired of all the power You-Know-Who is holding over us.” 

I could feel the Dark Mark burning and itching on my left forearm, bringing back memories of the moment it had been drawn into my skin. I could see Voldemort’s piercing red eyes staring into my tear-filled grey ones as he asked me to pledge my allegiance to him. All I wanted to do at the moment was make sure that man died in the most horrible and painful way possible to avenge all of the pain and death that he had caused throughout his life.

“Me too,” Draco sighed in agreement. “I just want this all to be over.”

“Wouldn’t that be great,” I sighed. After a moment of silence I said, “What do you think this year would be like if You-Know-Who hadn’t come back?”

“You mean if we had a quiet year?”

“Yeah. That sounds nice. A quiet year at Hogwarts.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I’m not sure.” I smiled. “I mean, during first year there was that whole ordeal with the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“And second year was when the Chamber of Secrets was opened.”

“Sirius Black broke into the Gryffindor common room during third year.”

“Then there was the Triwizard Tournament in fourth year.”

“Umbridge was here during fifth year and there was the Ministry invasion,” I recalled.

“And now we have to kill a man.”

“What’s gonna happen next year?” I wondered quietly.

“Probably a war,” Draco muttered unhappily. I snapped my head up at him. “Well, neither side is going to back down without a fight,” he defended himself from my gaze.

“But you think there’s gonna be a war?” I asked.

“Well, yes,” he arched an eyebrow at me. “That’s what happens when two sides fight on a large scale.”

“Oh.” I rested my head back on his chest.

Draco was probably right. There’s going to be a war. Light versus dark. Good versus bad. Harry versus Voldemort. 

“Since Harry is the Chosen One like that prophecy said in the Ministry, then he will be the one to destroy You-Know-Who,” I wondered aloud.

“Yes, your point?”

I lifted my head and looked at Draco. “If he kills You-know-Who, then we’re free. That could be our chance. If we help Harry, we could free ourselves.”

“Help Potter?” Draco crinkled his nose.

“Well, do you want a war?”

“No…”

“Then we have to help Harry. We just have to.”


	14. Chapter 14

Draco’s POV:

I spent the night staring at the crack in my deep emerald bed hangings, asking myself how I got into the mess I was currently in and why I had to drag Liz into it with me. I care about her too much for her to get hurt - especially at my fault. 

When the lake-filtered sunlight finally began to leak through the crack in my curtains and I heard one of the other boys in my dorm moving about, I decided that it was a decent time to get up. Sitting up, I pushed the curtains aside and placed my pale feet on the cold floor. I brought my hand up to my face and attempted to rub any sleep-deprivation from it. Knowing that I had failed at that small task, I stood up and slowly began to dress.

Once my robes were on my body, my teeth brushed, and my hair styled lazily, I walked down the hallway to the common room. Here, students were standing or sitting around speaking with their friends before heading to breakfast. The light in this room was brighter than in my dormitory seeing as the windows were much larger, giving more room for the entrance of light. With a quick glance through said windows, I noticed a group of phosphorescent fish swam by following a sleek mermaid. 

I decided to wait for Liz on the black leather sofa in front of the crackling fire. The flames were licking up the black stone and casting the area in a warm green glow that brought back memories from younger years.

It was about twenty minutes before Lizzie came down and sat beside me, the lack of sleep evident on her face as well. Her tie was twisted hopelessly and her hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head, tendrils poking out at all angles.

“Didn’t sleep well, either?” she asked quietly.

“Is it that obvious?” I chuckled, running a hand through my hand through my silky hair.

“A bit,” she laughed.

“You’re tie is all messed up,” I stated, leaning forward and untying the green and silver tie that was knotted sideways somehow. My slim fingers easily pulled the fabric into a simple knot.

“I gave up this morning.” She looked out one of the large windows beside us as my fingers worked. “I’m going to head straight to Potions,” she said slowly.

“I’ll come with you then,” I replied, standing up and holding a hand out to her. She took my cold hand in her warm one and laced our fingers together. We walked hand in hand out of the Slytherin common room attracting no odd looks, which I thanked Merlin for. People had gotten so used to seeing us together that they had stopped staring quite a while ago.

When we arrived in the classroom where Slughorn taught, we were fairly early, so it was just the two of us in the room with Slughorn.

“Draco, Lizzie! How wonderful! Have an early breakfast I assume?” Slughorn called out to us from his desk at the front of the room.

“Yes sir,” I replied respectfully. “We decided to come in early instead of staying in the Great Hall. It can get quite crowded sometimes.”

“I must agree,” Slughorn chortled, his mustache wiggling. Liz and I sat at a table towards the side of the room, not too close to Slughorn, yet not too far away.

“So Professor,” I began, throwing a sideways glance at Liz to warn her, “What are your plans for the holidays?” I squeezed her hand under the table.

“Well, Gwenog Jones, of the Holyhead Harpies that is, invited me to have dinner with her team a few days before Christmas, so I’ll be heading to Wales for a short time. After that, I think I’ll come back to Hogwarts to prepare some more lessons. What do you two have planned?” Slughorn tidied up his workspace as he spoke. When we walked in, he had been brewing some potion that smelled of grass.

“I’ll be heading back to the Manor to spend the holidays with my family and I hope that Lizzie will be joining me,” I explained to the man while simultaneously asking Liz to spend the holidays at my house, knowing that she had quite the secret hidden from her family.

“I think I had better head home for a while first. I haven’t seen my mum and brother in such a long time.” Her voice was shaking and her hand that wasn’t in mine found her its way to her neck and began to fumble with the necklace I had gotten her for Christmas the previous year. I squeezed her hand, knowing how long it had actually been since she had seen her mum.

“Ahh, wonderful. The holidays are a perfect time to be with family,” Slughorn smiled at us.

“It is,” Lizzie agreed. I promised myself that I would be speaking to Liz about this later, and making sure she was sure about her decision.

“Do you have any gifts in mind for anyone yet?” I asked Slughorn, trying to direct the conversation in the way I wanted it to go.

“I purchased a small, muggle, glass figurine of a cat for Professor McGonagall. She really does seem fond of cats,” he chuckled lightly. “I’ve been thinking of what to buy Professor Dumbledore to thank him for asking me to come back to teach. I really have enjoyed it. But I just can’t think of what the man might fancy. You haven’t any idea, do you?”

This was too easy. He was walking blindly into my trap.

“Actually, I do,” I said with faux hesitance.

“Why, my dear boy, you must tell me!” Slughorn folded his arms around his body and leaned his elbows on his desk.

“I’m not sure I should. I only know this because of the connection between my father and Dumbledore and I don’t think I’m supposed to know.” I bit my lip, begging the man to keep going in this direction.

“Oh, I won’t tell. It’ll be our little secret.” Slughorn winked at me with a sly grin on his face. I wanted to vomit.

“Well, I heard that Dumbledore absolutely loves Madam Rosmerta’s mead. Adores it to no end. Rumor has it that she has a special recipe just for him that she refuses to make for anyone else, so if you head down there to purchase it for Dumbledore, tell her that it’s a gift for him.” 

It is a special recipe, just not in the way you think.

“I just might have to take a trip to The Three Broomsticks before the holidays if the headmaster loves her mead as much as you say,” Slughorn laughed. 

“He canonizes it. Or so I hear, but remember, I’m not supposed to know, so you didn’t hear this from me,” I replied.

“Mr. Wembley, Harry, good to see you!” Slughorn looked at a point beyond my shoulder and I turned. At some point during my conversation with Slughorn, Potter and Weasley had entered the room, arguing quietly about something.

“Good morning, Professor Slughorn,” Potter answered. Weasley didn’t bother to say anything, only nodded at the man. 

After Potter and Weasley took their seats on the opposite side of the room, a steady trickle of students began to enter the room and fill the remaining seats. Pansy and Blaise were some of the last students to enter and sat by me and Liz.

“Hey, mate,” Blaise greeted me with a clap on the shoulder. I gave him a small nod in return.

“Lizzie, you got up so early this morning and I didn’t see you at breakfast. Where’d you go?” Pansy questioned Liz around me. 

Lizzie, who had been picking at a crack in the wood table looked up at the black haired girl beside me. “I came here to get some help from Professor Slughorn and Draco on the essay.” Pansy nodded and didn’t ask any further questions.

\-----

Lizzie’s POV:

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days, and days to weeks as the Christmas holiday approached, and before I knew it, I had my items packed and was boarding the Hogwarts Express. I had run through every possible situation that might present itself on the platform when I met my mum and had prepared a solution to each one. Over-preparative? A bit. Terrified? Absolutely.

A few days before the end of term, I had owled my mum and told her that I was indeed coming home for the Christmas holidays, and had asked her not to ask too many questions as there wasn’t much I could tell her. I had worked out a few different excuses about why I hadn’t returned that night last summer in case she did start asking questions (as I knew she would). She had owled back almost immediately with a list of questions. 

‘Why hadn’t I come home that day?’

‘Why hadn’t I owled her sooner?’

‘Why hadn’t I answered the owls she had sent me?’ (I hadn’t received any owls from her so this question confused me.)

I had worked out excuses for all of these and more, in my head, mentally preparing myself for the worst.

While the train was in motion, I couldn’t help but bounce my leg anxiously, frightened of how the confrontation might end. Would she turn me away in betrayal? Would she refuse to allow me to return to Hogwarts? Would she even be at the platform?

Draco had done his best to drag my mind from the topic, asking me what I might like for Christmas. I had absent-mindedly told him about the book I had seen in a shop window at Diagon Alley. For my sake, he had tried to look interested, but it was obvious that this was only an attempt to make me feel better.

I watched trees shoot by the window as we flew threw the countryside towards Kings Cross, where my mum would be waiting for me. A mum who knew nothing of the mark that had been burned into my forearm and haunted me. A mum who would hopefully never know about who had turned me over to the darkest wizard in the world, who I now served.

As the train began to slow down as it approached Kings Cross Station, my anxiety tripled. I hadn’t been paying attention to the time and suddenly it was time to deboard. My shaking hands clenched tightly around the handle of my trunk. 

“Are you ready?” Draco murmured to me, his hand on the small of my back.

“No,” I replied honestly.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he offered kindly.

“No, I think this is something I should do alone.” I bit my lip and looked up to him. His face was drawn into a tight expression of worry. 

“Alright,” he returned. “Owl me as soon as possible, okay? Tell me how everything goes.”

“Okay.” I gave him a small smile as we deboarded the train. After both of my feet were on the stone, I turned to Draco, shaking worse than ever. “I love you,” I told him, meaning it with all of my heart. I placed my trunk on the ground and wrapped my arms around his form.

“I love you too,” he whispered into my ear, hugging me back equally as tight. 

We stood like that for a few moments, wrapped in each others embrace, until I finally decided that I had better get this over with. I pulled back and brushed his blonde hair to the side with my fingertips.

“I’ll see you soon,” I smiled. He smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

With a deep breath, I grasped my trunk once more and walked into the crowd. Squeezing my way past students grinning at each other and their parents. If my mum was to be here, she would be in the back, in the same place as always.

I saw Pansy greeting a short woman with long black hair and the same nose as Pansy. Once the girl saw me walking by, she raised a hand to wave at me. I managed a small smile in return.

I turned my head to continue searching for my mum, when my eyes landed directly on her. Her auburn hair fell in soft waves from the top of her head and came to rest on her shoulders as gently as a bird might. She had her hands held in front of her, wringing them, and even from here, I could tell they were shaking more than mine. Her bright blue eyes were round with worry as they scanned the crowd, undoubtedly for me. 

I stood there staring in awe at the woman who stood in front of me. She was not the same one I had left all those months ago. She had deep purple bags beneath her eyes and her hair was not as shiny and smooth as I remembered. She had aged while I was gone.

Suddenly her blue eyes locked with mine and they grew several sizes. Her hands dropped to her sides, still shaking, while her legs began to move towards me. Involuntarily, mine began to move as well, and before I was aware, we were running towards each other. 

We connected roughly, her arms wrapped around me and mine around her. We squeezed each other as if someone would come along and rip us apart. Her hair tickled my nose as my breathing spiraled out of control. I relished in her sweet vanilla scent.

She lifter her hand and begun to stroke the back of my head. “Lizzie,” she breathed. “Oh, my Bitsy.” I smiled at the use of her nickname for me. She hadn’t called me that since before I started Hogwarts. 

“Mum,” I sobbed into her hair, not realizing that I was crying until just then. Her hair was sticking to my tear streaked face. 

“I didn’t know if you were alive or not, if you had even made it to Draco’s house, and your brother…” her voice cracked on the mention of my brother, indicating to me that something had gone wrong while I was at Hogwarts. 

I pulled back from the hug but kept my hands on my mum’s arms, not wanting to ever let go. “What about Grayson?” I asked, biting my lip.

She looked around as if she was just now noticing we were still on the platform. “This isn’t the place,” she spoke lowly, picking up my trunk and leading out into the muggle world.

Once my trunk was safely tucked away in the car and my mum and I were buckled in, I turned to the woman beside me, determined to get an answer out of her. “Mum, what happened to Gray?” I asked. She placed the key into the ignition and began to back out of her parking place before she responded.

“Nothing happened to him,” she muttered.

“Then what is it?” I exclaimed, beginning to get extremely worried. I took the hair band from off of my wrist and tied my hair back.

I noticed that my mum had begun to chew on the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit I hadn’t witnessed for quite a while. “You know that I’m a muggle and I’m not all that caught up within the wizarding world, but I know something is stirring. I went to Diagon Alley with your brother a bit after you left and it was obvious. People looked terrified and I noticed that a few of the shops are starting to close. Nothing big like Ollivanders or Fortescue’s, but the little shops that most people don’t look at twice. Naturally, I asked Gray about it and he… he told me that a dark wizard, Voldy-What’s-It-”

I cut her off quickly before she actually said his name, “We don’t say his name, mum.”

“Well, why not?” She frowned.

“Names hold power. And I think people are just scared, but we call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who.”

“Oh. Anyway, he told me that he had died but he came back and there’s a war starting. He told me that Vol- uh- You-Know-Who has a group of followers called Death Eaters. They want to rule the world and get rid of all muggles and muggle born wizards. Gray told me that he- well- he told me that he joined the Death Eaters,” at this, my stomach fell into my shoes, “and that he can’t be seen with me anymore.” Mum’s voice had begun to crack more and more the further into the explanation we got.

“Grayson a Death Eater?” I whispered in horror. My innards felt like they were full of helium and they felt as if they had floated from my body. I felt empty.

My brother, my own brother who I had grown up with in the muggle world, was a Death Eater? My brother, who couldn’t stand the idea of death and couldn’t watch gory movies because blood made him woozy, was a Death Eater? He had joined the group of people who wanted to eradicate people like us and our mum from the Earth. This couldn’t be true.

Tears had begun to slide down my mum’s face at this point. “He told me to tell you that he loves you,” she choked out.

“Grayson is a Death Eater,” I whispered. “This can’t be.”

“It is. He won’t answer any calls or owls or anything.”

“Mum do you understand what this means?” I whispered.

“He’s a Death Eater. There’s not much more to understand.”

“Mum, You-Know-Who is going around torturing and killing muggles just because they exist. He wants a world that’s strictly wizards. His eyes are red. Red eyes!”

“R-red eyes?”

“Red as blood,” I confirmed. “And he has no nose. Just two slits for nostrils. Like a snake.”

“A snake.”

“He’s a madman.”


	15. Chapter 15

Lizzie’s POV:

Grayson,

Please owl me as soon as possible. We need to talk, and not for the reason you might think. I need to explain some things. I miss you.

Love,  
Lizzie

With a small flourish or my quill, I finished the letter that I had constructed and was about to send to Grayson. Ever since I had arrived home from Kings Cross (which was all of 20 minutes ago), something began to eat at me from the inside out. I had to talk to Grayson.

I rolled the parchment up and tied it with a small piece of twine I had found on my desk. Gray’s owl had been at our home when we arrived as if she knew I would be in need of her.

“Here, Theo,” I smiled kindly at the proud, eagle owl and handed her the letter. “To Grayson.” She flapped her wings and was out the window in a blink of an eye.

Grayson, who absolutely hated learning about history, was a bit of an American history geek, so had named Theo after Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Aaron Burr, the man who had murdered Alexander Hamilton. Gray had always loved the name Theodosia and hadn’t agreed with Hamilton (seeing as he had cheated on his wife), so he decided to name his owl after the daughter (and wife) of the man who had killed him. 

I stared after the small, black spot that was quickly disappearing in the direction of Grayson’s apartment. I figured I should get a response soon, since Gray lived so close to us, but only if he didn’t choose to ignore me.

Naturally my mind went immediately to Draco. I wondered if he had made it home well and hoped that Theo returned quickly so I could write Draco before bed, just to be sure. Better safe than sorry. 

I was to go to Malfoy Manor again this year a bit after opening gifts with my mum (and Grayson if he decided to show up) on Christmas morning. I faintly pondered about if his mum would have a Christmas ball this year as well. 

Humming quietly to myself Suite For Solo Cello No. 1 In G Major, Bwv 1007 by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of my favorite classical pieces by one of my favorite musicians, I lay myself down on my bed. Before I knew it, I relaxed into the comforts of sleep.

\-----

I awoke slowly to my mum calling to me from the front room. “Lizzie! Theo’s here with a letter for you.” I sat up quickly and regretted it. My head began to spin slightly, but I pushed through it. Stumbling slightly, I hurried down the stairs to my mum, who was standing by an open window where Theodosia was perched. “The bloody owl was trying to break the window.”

“I’m sure she would if given the chance,” I replied. Theo hated being cooped up, so Gray often just let her fly in and out as she wish. 

“Is it from Gray?” mum asked quietly, wringing her hands.

“I assume so,” I spoke, unrolling the parchment.

Leaky Cauldron. 8 pm. Don’t let mum come.  
G

This was all that was written on the parchment. It happened to be the same piece that I had sent initially.

“What time is it?” I looked up to my mum who was eyeing me peculiarly.

She glanced at the silver watch on her wrist. “It’s about 7:35, why?”

“Gray wants me to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron at 8,” I told her quickly, turning on my heel to head back to my room and grab my jacket and scarf.

“Great! I’ll come too!” Mum started to walk towards the door, where her own jacket was hanging.

I stopped my journey and turned back around. “Mum,” I began delicately, “he doesn’t want you to come.”

“What?” She froze with her arm in mid air. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s a good idea too.” Seeing the betrayed look that passed across my mum’s face, I quickly explained. “Mum, if any Death Eater see’s a muggle in a wizard establishment, they wouldn’t think twice about killing you. Then they would come after me and Gray for allowing you to be there. I can’t lose you, mum.”

“Oh,” she sighed. “Well, I suppose you’re right. I don’t want to lose you either.” She painted a faux smile on her face, obviously hurt. “Just promise me that you’ll come back this time.”

“I promise. I’m never doing that to you again.” I walked forward until I was directly in front of the woman and wrapped my arms around her petite form. 

“Good,” she whispered, hugging me back.

After a few seconds in each other’s arms, I pulled back. “I should probably head out if I want to make it on time.”

“Alright, don’t be out too late. Dinner’ll be ready when you get back. I love you.”

“Love you too,” I called back as I hurried to my room where I slipped into my black jacket and wrapped my Slytherin scarf around my neck. I picked up my black leather purse which held the cellphone that I rarely used, my Oyster card, and some spare cash. “See you later!” I shouted to my mum, who was now in the kitchen preparing dinner, as I walked out the door. 

“Bye! Be safe!” she called back sweetly. A pang of guilt stabbed me in the stomach for leaving her before. I shook my head quickly and hurried to the nearest Underground station and hopped onto a train that would drop my near the Leaky Cauldron. I was lucky enough to snag a seat on the train and got a few jealous and upset looks from the people who were forced to stand.

After a few times of hearing the oh-so familiar male voice stating, “Please mind the gap between the train and the platform,” I stepped off of the train and shoved my way through the crowd and up the escalators. The exit deposited me about three blocks from the pub, so, bracing myself against the wind, I began to walk. 

By the time I had reached The Leaky Cauldron, the sun had long set and the city lights were lighting up the area. Charing Cross was lit up with building lights of every color. Green, blue, yellow, red. Cars and busses inched their way along the London traffic with blaring horns and motorbikes zoomed through the gaps.

I shouldered my way into The Leaky Cauldron and was immediately accosted by the noise. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was dinner time and that witches and wizards from all around would be there to dine. The smell of firewhiskey burned my nose even though I had only just entered the room, so thick that I could almost taste it myself.

Tom, the innkeeper, nodded at me from his place behind the bar and I waved halfheartedly in return before scanning the room for my brother. I spotted his sandy blonde hair in a booth towards the back corner, so I began to squeeze my way through the packed tables.

When I sat myself down in the booth that Gray occupied, he folded up the newspaper he had been reading. I caught a slight glance at the headline, which read, ‘Death Eater Terror Continues,’ which caused a stab in my gut.

“Hey, Squirt,” Gray grinned at me. He had procured a pair of large-glassed glasses in my absence, which made his green eyes stand out against his pale skin. I had always been jealous of his eyes; while I had gotten my father’s dishwater grey eyes, Gray had gotten my grandmother’s emerald green eyes.

“Long time, no see,” I replied with a small smile, tucking my hair behind my ear. “This was a smart place to meet. Loud around this time. No one will hear us.”

“I figured as much.” Gray shrugged as if this wasn’t such a completely Slytherin idea of his. “You said you wanted to talk?”

“Always been straight to the point,” I chuckled lightly. “Alright, well, when I got home from Hogwarts-”

“Let’s start with why you didn’t come home from Malfoy’s,” Grayson cut me off, giving me a pointed look.

“I’ll get there,” I returned impatiently. “Anyway, when I got back from Hogwarts, mum got all emotional and all and she told me that you had become a Death Eater?”

Gray pursed his lips as if he knew this was coming. “Before you go attacking me and blaming me for joining the wrong side, I’m doing this for mum and you. They might’ve found out mum is a muggle and killed her. This way I can protect you two from the inside. I can’t lose you two.” 

I reached forward and grasped his hand, which was resting on the table. “I wasn’t going to attack you,” I spoke kindly. “Now, going back to last year. You know that throughout my year at Hogwarts Draco had been my best friend.” Gray nodded. “Well, at some point during my fifth year, we became… involved… And during the summer, he didn’t write me once, so naturally I became worried. But one day, I got a letter with the Malfoy seal on it, asking me to come to Malfoy Manor as soon as possible, so I told mum I was going for a visit and left. When I got there, Lucius Malfoy walked me to a room w-with You-Know-Who in it,” Grayson visibly tensed at the mention of Voldemort, “and- well.... And our father.”

“Dad?” Gray exclaimed quite loudly, drawing the attention of a few nearby witches. I gave them a sorry look. “You met dad?”

“I did,” I murmured. “During the last Christmas holiday, I spent a bit of time at the Manor and attended a ball Draco’s mum threw. Our father was there.”

“I have so many questions! What’s he like? Why didn’t you tell me? Does mum know?”

I looked down to my hands, which were fidgeting nervously. “He gave me to You-Know-Who,” I stated simply. “I believe his exact words were, ‘I present to you my one, and only daughter, Elizabeth. I offer her service to you in hopes that she may prove herself useful in your rise to power.’”

“What?!” This exclamation drew the attention of even more people in the pub, but I didn’t care. “Lizzie! Are you saying-? Do you mean you’re a-?”

“Yes,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. Gray was rendered speechless, his jaw on the floor. “He’s cruel, Grayson. Our father. He is so cruel. He called mum an ‘old crow’.”

“What’s his name?” he whispered fiercely, his jaw clenching in anger. “I need a name.”

“Yaxley. Corban Yaxley.”

“No. Bloody. Way.” A muscle in Gray’s jaw twitched violently along with his fists, which were shaking. “I sat with that man for months, and he’s our father?!”

“Grayson-” I began, but stopped short due to the uncontrollable shaking of my voice. Tears had begun to leak down my face by this point.

“What is it?” He had noticed my sudden change in demeanor and placed his hand on top of mine.

My voice dropped so low that even I could barely hear it. “He ordered me to kill Dumbledore.” After saying it outloud, my teeth bit into my lip so hard, I was sure I was drawing blood.

“Dumbledore?” Grayson’s face had drained of all color at this new development.

“After Yaxley had handed me over like I was ever his in the first place, You-Know-Who assigned me to Draco’s task. He’s making us kill Dumbledore and let his lot of Death Eaters into the castle.”

“Merlin’s pants.” Grayson dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his forehead. “Lizzie, if you and Draco don’t do this, he’ll kill you, but if you do, you’ll be killing the greatest wizard who ever lived.”

“Do you think I haven’t figured that out?” I snapped through the tears. “There’s no way out, and I figured I could tell you since you would understand. And I didn’t even know if you already knew or not, but I needed you to hear it from my mouth. To hear how and why it happened.”

“I’m glad you told me. If I had heard it from anyone else, I think I would have had a brain aneurysm.”

“Do you think I should tell mum?” I began to chew on the inside of my cheek, nervously.

“No, no. Absolutely not. She needs one innocent child. I’m going to take all of the blame.”

“But Gray, if something is to happen to me with this task-”

He cut me off promptly. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“Let me finish. If something is to happen to me with this task, I want you to tell mum all of this. I want you to tell her how you joined to protect us, how father forced me to become a Death Eater, how I was forced to attempt to kill Dumbledore.”

“I can’t do that to her-”

“Promise me!” I slammed my fists on the table in a sudden outburst of anger, once again drawing the attention of the nearby witches.

“I promise,” Gray muttered.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“How’s mum?”

“She’s heartbroken, and I might’ve made it worse.” I cringed.

“What’d you do?”

“Well, when she told me about you, I had a sort of break down and asked her if she understood how terrible You-Know-Who really is.”

“And you told her how terrible he is,” he deadpanned, rubbing a hand down his face. “Great, Liz. Now she’s going to worry even more.”

“I was panicking! I wanted her to understand how horrible he is and how big of a problem this is.”

“It’s alright,” he sighed. 

“Votre chagrin est mon chagrin,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“I said votre chagrin est mon chagrin.”

“I know, I heard you the first time, but what does it mean?”

“It’s French for ‘your grief is my grief’.”

“Oh,” he furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

“It’s something that Draco and I say to each other. It means we’re in this together. Grayson, I know that you can be an arse sometimes, but I love you and I wouldn’t rather have anyone else for a brother.”

“And I wouldn’t rather have anyone else for a sister. I’m going to get you out of this, Liz.”

“Please don’t. I don’t want you to get wrapped up in this mess too. It’s bad enough Draco has to be a part of it. If I die in this task-”

“You’re not going to die,” he cut me off. I gave him a stern look before continuing.

“If I die in this task, mum needs someone. If you try to get me out of this, You-Know-Who will kill you along with me and Draco. If I die, I need you to keep mum safe. Take her to America, do anything you have to, but I can’t have her dying for a problem that I couldn’t fix.”

“I’ll keep her safe, Liz, but I’m going to keep you safe too.”

“So bloody stubborn,” I frowned. “Just please don’t get yourself killed.”

“I won’t.”


	16. Chapter 16

Draco’s POV:

“Draco, darling, will you go inform the house elves that we will be expecting dinner soon?” my mother hummed to me from the doorway of the drawing room. She had her apron draped across her arms which was smeared with paint. Her long, blonde, Malfoy hair was drawn back into a plait down her back so as to not get any paint in it. 

“Of course,” I replied easily. Standing from my place on the piano bench, I walked through the doorway into the kitchen. 

The house elves were already busy preparing dinner. Pans were floating seeming as if they were cooking my dinner all on their own. Wooden spoons stirred by themselves. Fires grew and shrank by themselves, adjusting to the needs of the food that they were cooking. 

Clearing my throat, I spoke, “Excuse me. Mother said that we will be expecting dinner soon.” All three of the elves froze as I spoke, but nodded and went directly back to work.

Back at my place at the piano, I settled my fingers on the ivory keys and pressed softly. I began to carefully play the Chopin Waltz No. 19 in A minor, one of the very first songs I had ever learned. My fingers found the keys to each chord easily and pressed softly. The notes floated through the air with a ring. My left hand played the bass notes, finding the harmonies for the melodic notes my right hand was sounding out. 

I closed my eyes and let the music lead me. My upper body began to rock with the music, moving forward and back, right and left. My fingers knew where the right keys were even blind. They moved as if they had a mind of their own, sliding up and down the cool ivories.

“Draco,” my father snapped from the doorway of his study, causing my fingers to flinch and pound a dissonant chord that made me cringe. “Will you stop making such incessant noise? I am working here.”

“Yes, Father,” I answered through gritted teeth. He had never liked the sound of the piano, finding it irritating and unnecessary. Personally, I found the music soothing, like the notes were speaking to my soul in a way that no human could.

When father said that he was ‘working’, he meant that he was studying up on dark magic to impress Voldemort or planning the murder of another muggle. Almost once a week he would leave the house silently, without telling anyone, and return an hour or so later with a sickly satisfied look written upon his face. He considered this work helpful to the Dark Lord’s rise to power. I considered it horrendous.

Growing up as a Malfoy meant that I was to be cruel and heartless, not caring about anyone in the world except for myself and my family, but I cared. I couldn’t kill a spider without trying to free it first. Father had caught me once, levitating a spider out the front door. Long story short, that was the last time I was ever caught.

“Don’t mind him,” my mother crooned. She glided into the sitting room and sat herself on the piano bench beside me. “He doesn’t understand art,” she whispered with a smile. She lifted her manicured hands and placed them onto the piano, starting the waltz where I had left off.

Mum and I were the artists of the family, loving to paint and draw respectively and playing the piano. It had been ages since we last played together though.

I let her finish the song, listening carefully to the beautiful way she was able to crescendo and decrescendo with barely a differentiation in her hands. I always thought that I was good at the piano, but if I was good, my mother was great. She was able to incorporate all of the dynamics that I had to concentrate to include. She could hit every staccato and accent with ease and drew out every legato with grace.

“That was beautiful, mother,” I sighed.

“Thank you, dear.” She smiled at me with her straight teeth. “Now, dinner. Did you speak to the house elves?”

“Of course,” I returned. 

“Wonderful. Dinner in 10 minutes then.” Mother smiled and stood, walking towards Father’s study.

“He’s working again,” I explained quickly. Father hated being interrupted when he was working.

“Oh, that’s alright,” she winked at me kindly. “Lucius, dinner in 10 minutes,” she called through the door. 

After a few seconds of silence, the door was wrenched open and my father’s pale face appeared. “I won’t be dining with you tonight. I was just on my way out.”

“And where will you be?” Mother asked with a raised eyebrows. Mother hated Father missing dinner’s just as much as Father hated being interrupted.

“I’ll be in London.” Father straightened his cloak and lifted his nose into the air.

“London? Lucius, I’m sure you know the risks of working in such a populated city.”

“Of course I do, Narcissa,” Father snapped quickly, moving to step around my mother. Mother stepped easily to the side to block his path.

“Then I assume that you will be home in time for tea?” Mother and Father had started a tradition of drinking a cup of tea before going to bed and Father had missed this several times due to his ‘work’.

“I guess we’ll see, now won’t we?” Father hissed, sidestepping Mother. She made no attempt to block him this time.

After Father had apparated away, Mother cleared her throat. “How about that dinner?”

\-----

Dinner had been a mix of pork and vegetables. The house elves had simmered the pork most of the day, so by the time it was ready to be consumed, it had been moist and flavored divinely. The vegetables, including green beans, cauliflower, and carrots, had been sauteed in the excess pork fat, loading them with flavor as well.

Mother and I had eaten in near silence, breaking it occasionally to speak of Hogwarts and the upcoming holidays. She confided in me that, for the first time since I had been born, we weren’t to have a Christmas ball. In a way I was relieved that I wouldn’t be forced to socialize with so many people I disliked, but I was also quite unnerved, for this revealed just how grave of a situation we were in.

After we had finished dinner and the house elves had cleared it away, Mother and I retired to the sitting room with a book. Mother was reading a romance novel she was particularly fond of and I was reading a story called The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.

The Little Mermaid is a story of a mermaid who falls so in love with a human prince, that she sells her tongue to a sea witch in exchange for a pair of human legs.

‘The sun had just set as she raised her head above the waves; but the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the air mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The little mermaid swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted her up, she could look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within.’ 

My eyes skimmed over the text easily as my ears listened to the storm that was beginning to brew outside. Rain drops had begun to fall gently from the sky, pitter-pattering against the windows and adding to the mood of the book. A faint rumble of thunder sounded from somewhere in the distance and, if I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was in the story with the little mermaid.

The cold waves lapped against my neck as I kicked my long, slender legs and swung my arms about to stay afloat. Though the air was calm and clear, there was a storm that was undoubtedly brewing, preparing to come pound the wooden ship in front of me, but no one on board seemed to care. They were all too busy dancing and laughing with one another. It was someone's birthday. 

The girl beside me careened her neck to get a look through the small window at the humans inside, her face alight with wonder. Her large eyes ate up everything she could see. The large cake in the center of the room decorated with elegant swirls of ivory icing, the women’s elaborate dresses flowing from their hips to the ground in an array of beautiful colors, the men’s fancy shoes tapping against the solid wood beneath their feet.

This mermaid wasn’t anything like the mermaids of the wizarding world, which were ugly and rude. No. She was beautiful, as if she were part veela, with her sloping cheeks and full lips. 

As the two of us studied the scene in front of us, the storm that the sky was with holding slowly began to reveal itself. The raindrops started out small, the size of pinheads, but steadily grew to the size of a sickle. They plastered my hair to my head and splattered ocean water against my face.

The people began to notice the storm as lightning arched across the sky, thunder vibrated the air, and the sea became rougher and rougher. As they started to make their way to the windows to study their surroundings, the little mermaid squeaked and leapt back below the wave with a splash of her tail. I stayed above the waves, knowing the humans couldn’t see me and wanting to see what happened next.

With one look at the sea, the people began to panic, as if they knew something I didn’t. The men rushed up to the deck and began to wrestle with ropes and barrels, moving things below deck and getting utterly soaked in the process. 

As they worked, the storm got more and more intense, rocking them off balance as lightning sparked in the sky. 

I watched one particular man work. With his knowing hands and strong biceps he took crate after crate below the deck, only stopping when a particularly strong wave threw him from the ship. 

The few men around him yelled words that were immediately lost to the wind and rushed to try and save him, but that was when the lightning struck the mast of the ship, lighting it aflame. The fire spread quickly, eating through the sails and ropes like nothing. 

Women began to hurry onto the deck, their dresses soaking up water like sponges. The men tried to send them back below, and a few listened, but more stayed and helped the men with their duties. 

The man who had fallen overboard floated nearby me, knocked unconscious by the fall from the ship. He was a handsome man, with thick eyebrows and a kind smile on his face, even in his slumber. 

The little mermaid appeared from nowhere then, and wrapped her small arms around the man’s muscled abdomen. She quickly began to swish her tail, swimming towards what I would assume was the shore. 

Above me on the ship, the fire burned on. The men’s shoes knocked against the wooden floor of the ship, sounding like someone knocking on a door. They worked quickly, but not quick enough. 

“Draco.”

The fire ate a hole in the side of the ship, allowing water to leak in. They were going to sink.

“Draco.”

The women below deck tried to stuff whatever they could find into the hole to stop the water, but they were quickly failing. One woman’s deep brown eyes landed on mine.

“Draco.”

Her shouts shook me to the core, rattling my bones and vibrating my blood.

“Draco, wake up, darling.”

My eyes snapped open and for a sudden fleeting moment, I thought I was really in the ocean beside that sinking ship, for the storm and knocking continued.

“Well, good morning there, sleepy head,” my mother smiled at me from her place on the chair across from me. “Would you mind getting the door? The house elves are busy with their nightly duties and I don’t wish to disturb them.”

“Of course,” I yawned, standing up and placing my book on the chair behind me. My shoes clicked quietly on the floor below me as I made my way into the entrance hall.

The storm outside was raging on, battering the windows with pellets of rain and streaking the sky with the occasional bolt of lightning. 

When I reached the door, I pulled it open, deactivating the locking spells father had insisted we put on it. I was immediately aware of how rough the storm outside really was, for rain drops reached through the door and landed on my body and the cold air was sending tendrils of gooseflesh racing across my skin.

“Lizzie?” I asked in surprise of seeing my girlfriend standing there, soaked to the bone in rain water. “What happened?” There was a nasty gash stretching from the right side of her nose to her right ear. The rainwater that slid down her face pulled the red tinge of blood along, smearing her face with red.

“Draco,” she sobbed, rushing forward and throwing her wet arms around my neck. Not caring about the water, I hugged her shaking form back, aware that she was obviously in need of some comforting.

“What is it, love?” I asked her urgently yet kindly.

“It’s my mum,” she cried. “They took my mum.”


	17. Chapter 17

Lizzie’s POV:

“They what?” he exclaimed, pulling back from our embrace and holding me at arm's length. “Who did? Who took your mum?”

“The Death Eaters,” I choked out between gasps for breath. “They came in during dinner, she made meat pie, Grayson’s favorite, and they started throwing spells everywhere. It took everything I could give just to keep myself alive, but then one of them disappeared-”

“Shhh, come inside and I’ll get you a nice warm cup of tea and some dry clothes and a warm bath if you’d like, then we can talk about this.” Draco cut off my ramblings and led me inside of his home. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and nodded.

“Lizzie, darling, I didn’t know we were expecting you!” Narcissa said happily from her chair. She really was a nice woman. 

I wasn’t expecting this either. 

My breathing rate began to increase, to the point of my body beginning to clench up, not only from the cold outside, but from lack of oxygen flow. “Oh, are you okay, dear?” Narcissa asked, noticing the blood trickling down my face.

“We weren’t,” Draco growled, saving me from having to respond. “When Father gets home, tell him I need to speak with him.”

“Alright, for what reason?” 

“We’ll discuss that later,” Draco replied simply, leading me up the stairs and to his bedroom. Once the door was shut behind us, he didn’t waste any time. “Winny,” he called out firmly.

I was expecting it, though I still jumped when the house elf apparated into the bedroom. “A steaming hot cup of tea, please.” The house elf nodded and disapparated. “Alright, love, through here.” 

Draco walked me into his toilet and drew me a warm bath. After casting a few warming spells upon the tub, he turned to me. “And now for you,” he spoke sweetly.

“Hand me your wand.” He held his hand out expectantly. I tried to move, but my body was so frozen I could barely move my shivering muscles.

“I can’t move,” I wheezed through clenched teeth, my jaw now locking.

“Okay, love, I need you to calm down. You’re going into shock. Breath with me now, ready?” he said calmingly. “In,” he took a deep breath in, and I tried to follow him, but my lungs weren’t working. “And out,” he breathed.

“I can’t, Draco,” I sobbed, a new wave of tears flowing from my eyes. My head began to pitch from the lack of oxygen and pain in the side of my face. The saltiness of my tears stung the gash on my cheek.

“Come here,” Draco crooned. He held his arms out for me and I walked into them, immediately beginning to calm down. This was my home. Here in Draco’s arms. “Okay, I need you to close your eyes, can you do that for me?” I hesitantly nodded against his shoulder, closing my eyes. “That’s good, now I need you to picture yourself in that room where we had the picnic, do you remember that?” I nodded again. “Alright, good. Picture that meadow. Remember that blanket we sat on? The blue one. And the grass. I couldn’t tell if it was real or not. It was so peaceful. Think of that.” My breathing began to slow a bit. “Now breathe with me. In,” he took another deep breath in and I struggled to as well. “Out,” he exhaled and I did as well. “In. Out.” 

We repeated this for a few minutes until my breathing was close to normal. “That’s it, love.” Draco smiled and released me. He reached down to my hand, which was beginning to unclamp, but he still had to pry my fingers off of my wand. “Your fingers are ice,” he frowned.

After he had successfully removed my wand from my stiff hands, he moved on to my sopping clothes. He carefully pulled my jumper over my head, then had me sit on the edge of the bathtub so he could remove my shoes, socks, and jeans. He struggled with this task, seeing as the clothes had become so soaked with water that they had seemingly become part of my skin. 

My outer clothes were off, so he next removed my undergarments. Draco’s fingers slid across my back until they reached the clasp of my bra and they gently unclasped it. I shakily stood up to help Draco remove my knickers. His fingers glided down my back to my hips and he hooked his thumb on the elastic band, pulling down slightly. The fabric fell down around my ankles and I stepped out of it. 

“Your beauty get’s me every time,” Draco breathed, studying me for a quick moment before he helped me lower myself into the tub. “I’m going to check on that tea and get you some dry clothes, and when I come back I’m going to see about that cut on your cheek, alright?” I nodded as Draco turned and left the room. 

I allowed myself to soak in the heat of the water that was burning my skin. It hurt but it felt so good. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, sliding my head below the water. My cheek stung but I chose to ignore it. It was peaceful beneath the water for a moment or two until flashes of purple and red began to swim across my vision. I heard my mum scream.

Launching myself back above the water, gasping for breath, I reminded myself that I was safe. Draco wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

But what about mum?

I forced my mind to stop thinking, blocking every thought that attempted to slither its way into my head before it began to flourish, until Draco came back into the loo. He had a white mug in one hand, with a white shirt and sweatpants thrown over his arm, and his wand in the other hand. “Here you go, love,” he whispered, handing me the mug of tea. I held it between both of my hands and sipped carefully, allowing the scalding liquid to burn my mouth. 

As I drank my tea and sat in the water, Draco set about drying my clothes. He cast drying spells and warming spells on the fabric before hanging them on a hook on the wall. I watched him work. He had a frown set into his face, as if it were carved there and permanent. 

For a moment, I allowed myself to put myself in his shoes. What if he had shown up on my doorstep during a thunderstorm saying that the Death Eaters took his family? I sure would have been cross, but I would have known he had handled the situation well. I would have welcomed him into my home and given him some of Gray’s old clothes and a cup of tea. 

I don’t think Draco gives me enough credit for how strong I am. I think he sees me as something he has to protect, and don’t get me wrong, I love that, but I can protect myself. I proved that tonight.

“Alright, let’s see about that cut,” Draco spoke, taking a seat beside the tub. He had rolled the sleeves of his white button-through up to his elbows and held his hand out for the empty mug of tea that I was still holding. Still shaking, I handed it to him and turned my body to give him full view of my cheek. 

His hands came up to my face and gently cupped it as he studied the source of the blood dripping from my face. He trailed a forefinger above the cut, causing me to hiss in pain. “Sorry,” he whispered. “It’s not too bad, but it’s most likely going to leave a scar.” I chewed on my lip.

Draco lifted his and and pointed it at my face. “This might sting a bit. Vulnera Sanentur.” I felt a warm breeze blow against my cheek as the gash began to seal itself up. “It’s not the cleanest, but it’ll do.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“It’s no problem.” Draco gave me a small smile and set his wand down on the floor beside him. “Are you ready to get out?” I nodded and allowed him to help me stand. He towel dried me carefully before slipping a silky, white shirt over my head and helping me step into the sweatpants he provided.

“I didn’t even know you owned sweatpants,” I muttered, causing Draco to chuckle.

“Don’t tell Mother or Father. They’d have a fit.” He took my hand in his and led me to his bed. As we laid down on it and he wrapped me in the duvets, he said, “Now, tell me what happened.” I nodded and closed my eyes, furrowing my eyebrows.

“I don’t know where to start,” I whispered, taking myself back in time. 

Mother had made meat pie. I knew that before she even called me to the kitchen for dinner. I would know that smell anywhere, because Grayson insisted that we have it every year for dinner on his birthday. 

When she did call me though, I took a seat at the table across from her. As we ate, we talked about normal stuff. How work was going for her, how school was going for me, if Grayson was coming home for Christmas. I had told her about Slughorn, how hopelessly silly he seemed. She had laughed with me. Said she imagined him looking like a walrus and I told her that as exactly what he looked like. She laughed so hard at that.

I had almost finished my portion. It was so good. Just how Gray always liked it. And then there was a crack in the front room, like someone apparating in. I thought it was Grayson and so did mum. Gray always apparated home. Didn’t like the London traffic. But he apparated to the doorstep and knocked on the door (even though mum told him he didn’t need to). We looked at each other in awe before she called out.

“Gray? Is that you?” Her voice was shaking as much as I was. 

I think she missed him. That’s why she made the meat pie. He became a Death Eater, you see. Said he did it to protect me and mum. He told mum that he couldn’t be seen around her.

But the footsteps didn’t sound like his, and I knew his footsteps. I grew up hearing them for so many years. His were soft and steady, but these were rough and hard. And it sounded like more than one pair of feet. 

Mum noticed too. Her face had turned white. So white. 

I summoned my wand from my bedroom where I had left it and told my mum to go hide.

“These are wizards,” I had whispered urgently. “You stand no chance against magic, mum. Go hide in my closet.” She hadn’t wanted to leave me, but knew that I wouldn’t let her stay here, so she ran out of the kitchen. 

I stood so that the table was between me and the doorway and pointed my wand in their direction. 

There were two of them. A tall, slender one and a short, stout one. Both had masks on and were wearing dark robes.

“Where’s your mother?” the taller one asked with a smooth voice. I knew that voice. I recognized it. But I couldn’t place a face with it. 

“That’s for me to know,” I spat. “Why are you here?”

“We are, quite obviously, here for your mother,” the shorter one cackled.

“I am a follower of the Dark Lord, why have you come for my mother?” I asked, adjusting the grip on my wand.

“That’s for me to know,” the taller one repeated. “So, kindly show us to her, and we will be on our way. No one need get hurt.”

“The only way to my mother is through me,” I growled, threateningly. I wasn’t going to let these fools get to my mother if it was the last thing I was to do.

“If you insist,” the taller one drawled. They both drew their wands and I felt my hope falter. It was two on one and even if I was talented, they had the advantage. “Last chance.”

“Stupefy!” I shouted, answering his question. He blocked the spell easily, sending into a cabinet nearby. My mothers best plates crashed to the floor and shattered. The duel ran full force. I blocked spells and sent spells flying towards them. I was giving it my all. Their spells were strong and almost knocked me over just from the force. But I held my ground. I was going to protect my mother.

“Petrificus Totalus!” The short one just barely managed to cast a Protego, but sent the spell back at me. It would have hit me too, if I hadn’t blocked it. 

Things broke all around us. One of the walls was on fire, the dinner table was splintered, the chairs were in different areas of the room, the cabinets were in different forms of disarray.

I was losing quickly and they both knew it. But I was going to protect my mother.

The tall one kept trying to cast the Cruciatus curse on me, but I kept dodging it. I had to hit the ground so hard, one time, I was sure I cracked my chin. 

When I got back up, the tall wizard was gone. I didn’t know where he went. But I continued to duel the short wizard. I was going to protect my mother.

“Expulso!” I pointed this curse at the wizard’s feet, attempting to knock him over. And it worked. He didn’t see how he could block it in time, so he leapt out of the way. The curse blew a hole in the ground where he was standing that knocked me backwards. 

The wizard stood back up. But he had lost his mask in his attempt to dodge my curse. It was my father. 

He gave me a sickly grin and shot spell after spell towards me. I blocked them all. But I heard my mother scream and when I turned to find her, one of the bastards spells grazed my cheek. The force of it knocked me onto my back and I hit my head so hard my vision went blurry for a few seconds. 

I tried to get up, but I kept stumbling. I heard my mother scream once more. This time it was my name.

“Lizzie!” she screamed. Then there was the unmistakable sound of apparation. 

“Mum!” I yelled back, tears and blood streaming down my face. I ignored the pounding in my head and the pitching of the room. “Mum, where are you? Mum, answer me!” No matter how loud I yelled, she wouldn’t answer. That was when I knew they took her. I failed. I couldn’t protect her. 

I ran out the front door but no one was there. And I had to leave before the muggle police got there. 

“So I ran. I ran all the way to the train station and I stole away on the first train in this direction.” I discovered that a tears were, once again, leaking from my eyes. I reached up and rubbed at my eyes roughly, aggravating the gash. 

“Everything’s alright, now. We’ll find you’re mum. I promise,” Draco whispered, kissing the top of my head. “In the meantime, why don’t you get some sleep. I know you’re exhausted.”

“I love you, Draco,” I replied quietly, snuggling into him.

I managed to hear him return, “I love you too,” before I slipped into the sweet, sweet arms of sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Draco’s POV:

After Liz was asleep for a good amount of time, I slipped out from underneath of her and went downstairs. As I descended, my fury grew increasingly more raging. By the time I reached the bottom, I was shaking with anger. I knew exactly who had accompanied Yaxley in the kidnapping of Lizzie’s mum. 

“What did you do tonight, Lucius?” I heard my mother’s voice carry from the sitting room.

“Yes, what did you do tonight, Lucius?” I demanded, storming into the room.

“Don’t you speak to me that way,” Father hissed at me. I stood next to my mother and clenched my fists to keep them from flying into the man’s pinched face. My wand was burning in my packet. I was itching to bring it out and curse him a thousand ways to hell.

“I can speak to you however I want to when you kidnap my girlfriend’s mother,” I snapped angrily.

“You kidnapped Lizzie’s mother? Lucius!” Mother gasped in horror.

“That’s why she showed up on our doorstep. Because my dear father and Yaxley, Lizzie’s father, showed up on her doorstep and almost killed her to get to her mum.” I put as much venom into both instances of the word ‘father’ as I could muster.

“Lucius!”

“What did you do with her?” I sneered.

“We have done nothing to the muggle woman, yet,” my father replied with a smug expression on his face.

“And you won’t do anything to her, because if you do, I will personally make sure your life becomes a living hell.”

“You are out of line, boy,” Lucius drawled dangerously.

“He is perfectly allowed to do that, Lucius. Lizzie has done nothing wrong and neither has her mother. Why did you take the woman?” My mother wrapped her arm around me to show me support and I couldn’t have loved her any more.

“This is a message from the Dark Lord.” My rage was replaced with terror. “He does not like to be kept waiting, Draco.”

I took a few steps forward so I was nose to nose with the monster of a father I was cursed with. “At the end of all this, Lizzie’s mother will be released healthier than when she was taken, or, I swear to Merlin, I will kill you.” I then stormed back upstairs, where I was careful to close my bedroom door quietly, so as to not wake Liz.

I crawled back into bed with Lizzie, who rolled over and nuzzled her head into my chest. I wrapped my arm around her and watched her sleep.

She was so beautiful. So very, very beautiful. Even with that angry cut on her face. Her eyelids were closed over her grey eyes and her plump lips were parted slightly, allowing air in and out of her mouth. I leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose, watching a small smile form on her lips. 

She didn’t deserve any of this, and yet I had dragged her into all of this. I knew what I was doing and I was still selfish enough to bring her with me, and now look at where we were. We had to kill the greatest wizard of all time and let the followers of the darkest wizard of all time into our school, where hundreds, if not thousands of innocent students were. Not to mention the kidnapping of Liz’s mum. It was all my fault. All of it. 

\-----

After I had woken up, I had decided to let Liz sleep as late as she needed to, and summoned The Little Mermaid from downstairs. I read until I had felt her stirring, when I closed the book and rested it upon my chest.

Her eyes fluttered open and met mine. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” I greeted her with a smile. 

She gave me a sleepy smile in return. “Did you just call me a muggle princess?”

“I’ve been catching up.” I lifted the book from my chest to show her what I was currently reading. She sat up and took the book from my grasp.

“The Little Mermaid,” she read. “This one was always my favorite when I was growing up.”

“I think it’s going to be mine as well.” Her eyes looked over to me and her smile vanished, as if she suddenly remembered why she was here. “Come here.” I held my arms out and she crawled into them. 

We sat like that for what seemed like hours, with me rubbing her shoulder soothingly and occasionally kissing her head, until she spoke. “I want to go back.”

“What?” I asked quietly, not quite registering what she had said.

“I want to go back to my house,” she clarified. “I need to grab some clothes. As long as it’s alright that I stay here until we go back to Hogwarts?” 

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” I replied. “You should probably change into your clothes from yesterday though, unless you want to leave the house in my pajamas, of course.” She smiled lightly and stood, making her way to my toilet.

She returned a few minutes later, with her grey jumper and jeans on. “Ready?” I asked her. She nodded, so I held my arm out and she held on and I turned on my heel and felt the familiar sensation of being sucked through a straw. 

Once the feeling disappeared, I opened my eyes. A quaint little, blue house stood before us, the door stood wide open. Lizzie let go of my arm and gently pushed the door open all the way. We both pulled our wands out and walked in hesitantly. 

The front door opened up to a front room that was seemingly untouched, save for the Christmas tree that was knocked over in the corner. Ornaments sat shattered around the floor surrounding the tree. Muggle pictures of Liz’s family hung from the walls in simple frames. A small beige sofa sat beneath a window that overlooked the street.

I followed Liz through a doorway in front of us to what I assumed was the kitchen. It was had to tell seeing that the room was destroyed. This was where the duel took place. I saw a small puddle of dried blood on the other side of the room where Lizzie must have been standing when Yaxley’s spell caught her across the cheek and a hole in the floor at my feet where Liz cast the Expulso.

“I’m going t-to run up stairs and grab my trunk, could y-you do me a favor and repair what you can? I help you when I come back down. I just don’t want the house to be an utter mess when my mum gets back.”

“Take your time,” I told her as she turned and exited out the doorway we came through. I heard her quiet footsteps pad up the stairs.

The kitchen was obliterated to say the least. I sighed and set about repairing items. The cabinets that were splintered sealed themselves back up, the cracks in the walls disappeared as if they were never there, the blood stain on the floor evaporated. There was a cabinet or two that couldn’t be repaired despite my best efforts. They must have been hit by a dark curse and needed stronger repairing spells.

By the time Liz returned downstairs with her trunk levitated behind her, most of the kitchen was repaired. I was about to tend to a broken lightbulb when she slipped her arms around my waist. I jumped in surprise, but quickly realized who it was. She stood on her tiptoes and rested her chin on my shoulder. I placed my free hand on top of hers, which were clasped on my stomach.

“Thank you,” she whispered into my ear. She nibbled on my earlobe lightly.

“You’re very welcome,” I sighed. She moved her mouth down my neck and sucked on my skin until she found the spot that made me shudder. I tilted my head to allow her better access. 

After I was sure she had left a nice sized purple mark, I twisted around until I was facing her and stared into her sultry eyes. They held a sort of mischievous sadness, and I would have taken advantage of the mischievousness had the sad part not been there.

“We should get back to the Manor,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be here should anyone unwelcome show up.”

“Shh,” she shushed me. “No one’s going to show up.” She leaned forward and flitted her lips against mine, just gentle enough for me to feel them. I leaned forward, intending to kiss her, but she pulled back before I made contact.

“You’re such a tease,” I murmured.

“I try,” she smirked at me. I leaned forward again, trying to lock lips with her, but she pulled back once more. 

“Oh, come on,” I growled, spinning us around and pinning her to the wall. “Where’re you gonna go now?” She looked up at me with innocent eyes and a smirk. Her hands found their way to my chest and she pushed me slightly. I grabbed her hands and pinned them to the wall above her head. At this, I leaned forward and kissed her roughly, my greed getting the best of me. She kissed back just as roughly and my free hand found its way to her hip, gripping it tightly and pulling myself closer to her.

I slid my tongue across her bottom lip asking for entrance and when she didn’t give way, I bit it softly, causing her to gasp, then slipped my tongue into her mouth. Our tongues wrestled for dominance, but I won in the end. She melted into my touch, her body pressing into mine, which was quickly becoming…

I dropped her hands and they found their way to my jaw and hair, tugging slightly. My other hand gripped her other hip. Our bodies were flush against each other, her breasts pressing into my chest. 

We moved in sync, as if we weren’t two bodies, but one. I placed my hands on the underside of her bum and pressed, indicating she should jump. She complied and I gripped the handle of her Hogwarts trunk. “Hold on, love.” She latched her arms around my neck and I turned, apparating us back to my room at the Manor.

I deposited her on the bed and pulled my shirt over my head. I used my wand to silence and lock the room before leaning over her and bracing myself with my hands on either side of her head, I kissed her roughly, breaking it only to pull her jumper over her head. Her full chest was hidden behind her bra so I reached behind her back and unclasped it with one hand.

“Have you been practicing?” she chuckled between kisses.

“Nope. This is pure talent.” She reached down and began to undo my pants, pulling them down and leaving me in only boxers. “Your turn.” I hooked my fingers under the hems of her jeans and her knickers, pulling them both down in one go.

I pushed a finger into her immediately, making her shudder. I slowly began to pump it in and out, watching Liz roll her eyes in pleasure. She moaned my name, turning me on even more if that was possible. The tent in my boxers was growing bigger and bigger, begging for attention.

I gave into my urges and pulled my boxers off, lining myself up with her. When I looked to her for permission, she responded, “Merlin, come on, Draco.”

And we made love until the sun set.


	19. Chapter 19

Lizzie’s POV:

Draco and I returned to Hogwarts to find it buried in a foot of snow. Apparition lessons were to begin soon, but Draco already knew how and I wasn’t feeling any urge to be in the same room with all of the sixth years, so on the days that the lessons took place, Draco and I made trips to the Room of Requirement to work on the Vanishing Cabinet. Since we returned to a still live and kicking Dumbledore, we figured that Slughorn hadn’t bought the mead. We still had to kill the man, but the loopholes kept failing us. It was becoming increasingly and increasingly more apparent to the both of us that we would have to cast the curse.

Draco told me of the conversation he had had with his father the night my mother was kidnapped. He told me that she was most likely still alive and he would make sure that I got her back alright.

Shortly after I had arrived at Malfoy Manor, I had owled Grayson and told him what had happened. He never replied.

Anyway, having returned to Hogwarts, my health was going downhill fast and so was Draco’s. We barely ate, barely slept, and barely socialized with anyone other than each other. If anyone else approached us, we would quickly make an excuse and run off. We found comfort only in each other.

In the Room of Requirement, the Vanishing Cabinet was slowly but steadily coming along, and I knew that, by the end of term, there would be Death Eaters on the castle and, one way or another, Dumbledore would be dead. Draco had received a letter from Borgin of Borgin and Burke’s with a spell that would repair the cabinet. Harmonia Nectere Passus. Draco and I repeated this spell so many times in one sitting that the words would be engraved in my skull until the day I die.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

I had studied the etymology of the phrase one day, having nothing else to do, seeing as Draco was busy finishing an essay for Snape. It was derived mostly from Latin. Harmonia meaning ‘harmony’, nectere meaning ‘to tie or to bond’, and passus deriving from the Latin word pati meaning to ‘suffer, allow, or undergo’. All together, the phrase means ‘allowing to bind the harmony’, mending the passage between the cabinets. I found it quite interesting, but figured Draco wouldn’t care, so I kept it to myself.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

Allowing to bind the harmony.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

Allowing to bind the harmony.

I would be repeating those words even in death, they were so engraved into my memory. I even found myself muttering them to myself when spacing out in class, earning odd looks from the students around me. My ears would turn red whenever this happened and my stomach would lurch, thinking I had just given away our entire operation. However, no one came with pointed wands.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

Harmonia Nectere Passus.

“HARMONIA NECTERE PASSUS.” I bolted up in my bed in my dormitory, realizing that I had shouted the phrase out loud, waking all the other girls in my dormitory. Millicent gave me the dirtiest look she could manage and went back to sleep. 

“Are you alright, Liz?” Astoria called out sweetly, yet tiredly from the bed next to mine.

“Y-yeah, I’m sorry, girls. Just a bad dream,” I muttered guiltily.

After all of the other girls’ breathing had evened out and Millicent began to snore once more, I stood and made my way down to the common room. 

“Incendio,” I whispered, lighting the fireplace. It sparked once, then roared to life. Sitting down on the stone hearth in front of the fireplace and wrapping my arms around myself, I allowed the warmth to seep into my body.

“Hey, mum,” I whispered, careful to make sure no one could hear me, even if they were on the sofa behind me. “I miss you terribly and hope to Merlin that you are alright. I don’t know what I would do without you. I mean I’m almost of age, in the wizarding world of course, but I would still have to move in with Grayson for a while, wouldn’t I? That would be a lot of personality in too small of a flat with no control. It would turn to chaos in little to no time.” 

I chuckled at the thought of all the rows Gray and I had gotten into growing up. We both were quite loud people once we got comfortable with people and putting us together would result in World War lll. 

“I’m back at Hogwarts, now, and professors are loading us up with homework. N.E.W.T.’s are coming up and with the war brewing I’ve barely thought of what I’m going to do after Hogwarts. I know I want to be an Auror, but I’d need so many N.E.W.T.’s that it’s almost impossible. The thought of the future just makes me want to tear my hair out, even if it’s just the thought of breakfast. And if you knew why, you would understand, but I know how you reacted when you found out about Grayson and he said you need at least one innocent child. I hate to say it, but I agree with him. If I told you what my father did, you would have a fit. I couldn’t do that to you. Maybe after the war. If we both make it.”

I took a deep breath and chewed on my lip.

“Draco’s in this mess with me, though, and that makes it a million times easier. He’s the one holding me together. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it this far. It was our petty fight in fifth year that stopped me from eating any more of that poison. He has saved my life on more than one account and for that I am eternally grateful.

“I love him, mum. So much. Whenever I think about him, my stomach knots itself up and my brain turns to mush. I pray to Merlin that I never lose this boy. He is my other half. He is my savior.”

“The feeling is mutual,” a husky voice whispered from directly behind me, making me leap to my feet and draw my wand.

“Merlin’s pants, Draco! You are everywhere,” I said, my heart beating a thousand miles per hour at the surprise.

Draco’s POV:

For what was probably the second night in a row, I had a sleepless night. The sounds of the other boys’ slow breathing and my warm blankets should have been enough to lull me to sleep, but I was so haunted by the task on my shoulders that I was unable to close my eyes for more than twenty seconds. If Lizzie were here next to me, I would have been able to sleep like a baby, but she wasn’t. She was in her own bed, most likely having a sleepless night herself.

I started when I heard a shout from somewhere nearby. The other boys in the room didn’t flinch, but I sat upright to the noise. Shouts weren’t uncommon in the middle of the night, nowadays. People were so scared of the state of the wizarding world that nightmares followed everyone, waking them in the dark. But this one got me out of bed. I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I decided to head to the common room. 

There was a form sitting in front of the fireplace, staring into the fire blazing inside. My feet made no noise as I approached them. Upon further inspection, I realized that this was Lizzie and she was speaking. 

“Draco’s in this mess with me, though, and that makes it a million times easier. He’s the one holding me together. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it this far. It was our petty row in fifth year that stopped me from eating any more of that poison. He has saved my life on more than one account and for that I am eternally grateful.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I listened to the sweet words she was saying about me.

“I love him, mum. So much. Whenever I think about him, my stomach knots itself up and my brain turns to mush. I pray to Merlin that I never lose this boy. He is my other half. He is my savior.” It was at this point that I realized she was speaking to her mother, or rather speaking into the fire as if it were a floo to her mother.

“The feeling is mutual,” I whispered. She obviously hadn’t realized that I was behind her and jumped, drawing her wand from the waistband of her pajamas.

“Merlin’s pants, Draco! You are everywhere,” LIzzie replied in a whisper yell.

“How else am I going to protect you?” I returned, sitting on the hearth next to where she had been. She frowned and sat back down, this time facing me.

“I can hold my own, you know.” Her face was lit up green in the light of the fire and the shadows danced across her nose and lips and eyes as the fire flickered beside us.

“I know, but I once made a promise to myself that I would never let anything happen to you, and how am I supposed follow through with that if I can’t see you?” She didn’t reply for a few moments, but simply turned her head to look into the fire.

“How long were you standing there?” She was chewing on her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had acquired this past year.

“Not too long, but long enough,” I answered vaguely. She frowned again at my answer.

“I come down here a lot when I can’t sleep, and, I don’t know why, but I’ve started talking to the fire as if it’s my mum.” She took a deep breath and bit her lip. “I miss her,” she choked. “What if something happens to her? What if she’s already dead? You-Know-Who has no use for a muggle.”

“I’ll get her back if it’s the last thing I do,” I swore to her, and I meant it. I couldn’t bear to see Liz in pain like this.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Draco,” she whispered, scooting herself closer to me and leaning her head on my shoulder.

“The feeling is mutual,” I repeated.


	20. Chapter 20

Lizzie’s POV:

I had been walking to the library to finish working on the reading that had been assigned for Alchemy when I ran into the only three people that I didn’t want to see. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking down the same hallway as me when they saw me.

“Lizzie!” Hermione called to me, pulling herself from whatever hurried conversation they had been having.

“Oh, hey, Hermione,” I replied uncomfortably. “Harry, Ron.” I nodded at the boys in greeting.

“Hey, Liz,” Harry said. Ron simply nodded. He had never been completely fond of me.

“Are you heading to the library?” she asked. I nodded in answer. “Great! So were we!” Harry and Ron looked at the bushy haired girl confusedly but didn’t say anything.

“The library is the other way and, judging from Harry and Ron’s expressions, you certainly weren’t heading to the library. So, I won’t get in your way and ruin any plans. You guys can continue on to wherever you were going.” I smiled at them and moved to walk away quickly.

“But we weren’t heading anywhere, we were just wandering, and, besides, we could all use a little study time before our N.E.W.T.’s, right boys?”

“Right,” Ron murmured bloody unenthused.

“So, what are going to work on?” Hermione asked me.

“I was going to finished the reading for Alchemy,” I answered.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were taking that class! I almost took it this year but decided to take Ancient Runes again instead.”

“All joking aside, what do you guys want? We’ve barely talked all year and now you are all over me. There’s no ulterior motive here, is there? Don’t tell me this is about Draco.” I sighed in exasperation, knowing the trio’s feelings about Draco.

“Can’t we just spend some quality time with our friend?” Harry asked.

“Now I know you’re up to something,” I frowned. Harry looked appalled at this statement. “Guys, I’m not stupid and I’m not going to pretend I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re spending time with me hoping that I’ll say something that’ll incriminate Draco, but I’m not going to.”

“Every conversation we have with you, the more I end up liking you,” Ron grinned.

“Draco and I are not up to anything, and you three chasing me around isn’t going to help either of us any.”

“We didn’t say anything about both you and Draco,” Harry spoke, furrowing his eyebrows. I could feel my face drain of color. Damn it, Lizzie.

“Please, just leave us alone. It’s hard enough without you guys following our every move. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed you watching us in the Great Hall, Harry,” I said. “Hopefully, I won’t see you around.” I turned and hurried down the hallway, now perfectly okay with reading in the over busy common room.

I heard footsteps jogging up behind me and sighed internally. No doubt that was Hermione coming to make amends.

“Lizzie, wait up,” she called to me. I stopped where I stood but didn’t turn. “Lizzie, I’m really sorry. You see, ever since Katie Bell got cursed by that necklace, Harry has been practically obsessed with Malfoy. He’s convinced that Malfoy did it.”

“That’s no excuse for you and Ron following him,” I said impatiently.

“I know it’s not, but Lizzie, like you said back there, you’re not stupid and neither am I. I know something is up with you, whether it has anything to do with what Malfoy may or may not be up to, I don’t know, but something is up.” My face turned red and I looked to the ground. “Lizzie, I just- I want you to know that you will always have a friend in me. And anything that you might confide in me will stay between you and me. I’m rather good at keeping secrets from Ron and Harry, you see.”

“Thank you, Hermione,” I muttered, still looking at the ground. I was saying this half to get her off of my back, and half to actually thank her for her efforts. No one in Slytherin, besides Draco of course, had ever shown me kindness like that before.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned toothily at me. “And on behalf of both Harry and Ron, I apologize. They can be quite dim witted sometimes.” I smiled at this and brought my eyes up to meet hers. 

“But seriously,” I said, “I keep running into you three so periodically this last year, that it’s kind of like dramatic irony.”

“Coincidences, I suspect.”

“I suppose. Once again, thank you, Hermione. You’ve become the only true friend I’ve ever had.”

“Ever?” She cocked her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Yeah, Slytherin’s like to look out for themselves and befriending the half-blood wouldn’t look too good on their sparkling reputations.”

“I see. Well, you’re welcome anytime in Gryffindor tower. You have plenty of friends there. Just tell the Fat Lady you’re looking for Hermione Granger.” She smiled at me and waved goodbye, heading back to Harry and Ron. They began walking in their original direction, heading to wherever they were planning on in the first place.

For one very Slytherin moment, I had the urge to follow them. I wanted to see why they were being so secretive. 

Screw it. The hat put me in Slytherin for a reason. 

So I let the urge guide my feet in the same direction of the trio. I walked on the balls of my feet and stepped where I knew the stone floor wouldn’t make a noise. To be caught following them would definitely not be the ideal situation.

“-I’m telling you,” Harry muttered.

“Is this just part of your prejudice against Slytherin?” Hermione countered easily. 

“No,” he huffed. “She’s involved with Malfoy. That’s not a secret. If she’s close to him, he would obviously tell her something about what he is doing, and if she’s close to you, Hermione, she might let slip some information that would give us an idea.” 

They were talking about me.

“I am not going to spy on that poor girl for you, Harry!” Hermione said quite shrilly. “Malfoy isn’t the greatest character, but I don’t think you need to chase him around like you are, and I especially think you don’t need to pull Lizzie into this. Haven’t you seen her? She is obviously going through something tough and doesn’t need any of the trouble you are trying to cause her.” I suddenly felt a great surge of affection for Hermione.

“That’s what I’m trying to say here! I think that ‘something tough’ has to do with whatever Malfoy is doing!”

“Wait, hold on, mate,” Ron said suddenly as the three of them turned a corner. I hurried forward and put my back against the wall to hear. “Are you saying you think Lizzie is a Death Eater?” I began to chew on my lip nervously.

“I do. I think Malfoy dragged her into it all,” Harry answered. My stomach began to bubble with emotion, but I couldn’t place it. Anger? Terror?

“He cares about her too much to do that to her,” Hermione said slowly. “Anyone can see how much they care about each other.”

“I gotta agree with Hermione on this one. Even I can tell how they feel, and that’s saying something,” Ron inputted. 

I peeked around the corner to see how far down the corridor they were, because I was starting to lose their voices. Seeing that they were a solid distance away from me, I stepped into the open and continued my stalking.

“Okay, yes, I know they care about each other, but I just- this isn’t even what I was trying to get to you. I know Malfoy cursed Katie. I just need proof. So, Hermione, I need you to-”

“I am not spying on Lizzie for you, Harry. That is final,” Hermione stated firmly, and that was the end. She stomped forward, leaving Harry and Ron staring after her. After a few seconds, they followed her. I stayed behind, however. I had heard enough.

\-----

“Draco,” I said to the boy as I approached him from behind. He was sitting on the sofa in front of the fir in the Slytherin common room.

“Hmm?” he hummed turning his head to see me. “Hey, love. Come sit with me.” He patted the space on the sofa beside him, inviting me to sit beside him, so I obliged. 

“I overheard Hermione, Harry, and Ron speaking,” I began.

“And?”

“They suspect us.”

“What?” he exclaimed. Several other students in the room turned their heads and frowned.

“Shhh,” I hushed him. “They suspect it was you that cursed Katie and since you and I are a package deal, they suspect me as well.”

“Are you serious?” 

“This isn’t exactly something I would joke about.”

“What did they say?”

“Well Harry said he supposes I’m a Death Eater and you’re the one who dragged me into it-”

“But I am,” he cut me off.

“We’re not having this conversation. It’s my father’s fault,” I huffed. “Anyway, he also said he knows you cursed Katie, but he needs proof. He wanted Hermione to spy on me since we’re friends.”

“What a prick!”

“Obviously, Hermione declined firmly and scolded Harry for accusing us of such serious things. We just need to watch our backs from now on. Harry might be there, even if he claims to be my friend.”


	21. Chapter 21

Lizzie’s POV:

Growing up with one parent and a brother had always been a challenge. We were always tight on money. Not so tight that we couldn’t afford the necessities such as shampoo and food, but tight in the way that we couldn’t afford the extras like nice cellphones or that field trip with our primary school classes. 

Despite the one-person income, mum made it a point to have the Samuels’ Scintillating Saturday’s. On the first Saturday of each month, mum would make pancakes for dinner and we would spend the night watching movies. Of course, growing up I didn’t know what scintillating meant, but I soon figured out that it meant fascinating.

These nights didn’t usually get sentimental. They were just something we did all together until Gray and I went away to Hogwarts. But I can remember one particular Friday when Mum and I had both come away with tears in our eyes…

I was still in primary school, but was just about to graduate year five the following Tuesday, so my mum had scraped up enough money to make extra special blueberry pancakes (one of my favorite breakfast foods) and some whipped cream topping to put on top. I could remember thinking that Gray would be so jealous he had missed the special pancakes because he was still at Hogwarts for another two weeks.

“Lizzie Lou! Pancakes!” My mum called to me from the kitchen. I was up in her room applying makeup to my face. I thought I looks amazing, but I’m sure I looked atrocious. “Well, look at you!” she laughed when I came downstairs, grinning widely. She and I had the same laugh. We would throw our heads back, scrunch our noses, and close our eyes, letting our laugh ring through the air without any self-consciousness. “Now, sit your bum down and eat your pancakes before I eat them all myself.” She smirked at me and touched her finger to my nose as she set the plate of flapjacks in front of me.

As always, I wolfed them down and sat bouncing in my chair as my mum took her sweet time cutting each individual cake into itty-bitty pieces before placing them delicately in her mouth with a knowing smirk.

“Mu-uum!” I complained loudly, rolling my head in anticipation and boredom.

“Are you in a hurry for something?” she asked, the mischievous twinkle in her eye blinked at me.

“What movie are we watching tonight?” I crossed my arms on the table and rested my chin on them, looking across at my mum. 

“Hmm,” she hummed, pretending to think. She cupped her chin in her hand and placed her elbow on the table. “I think it’s the one with the singing mice- Wait, no, the one with the poison apple. Definitely the one with the beast.”

“Which is it?” I asked, excitement coursing through my ten-year-old veins.

“Hmph, I can’t remember,” she lied. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” She would smirk at me again.

“Mum!” I repeated laughing. 

I plopped my head back down on the table and watched her eat in silence. She had tied her long, auburn hair up in bun. Tendrils floated down around her face like jellyfish stingers. I had always admired her hair. Where mine was coarse and ratty in my primary-school way, hers was always neat and smooth as silk. She would let me brush her hair out and braid it out sometimes.

Her eyebrows creeped up as she noticed me glaring at her. “Fiiiine,” she sighed, shoveling the last few bites into her mouth. 

“Yes!” I pumped my fist into the air and hurtled into the living room where I threw myself onto the sofa in my usual spot on the end. I stretched out on the worn cushions and waited. Mum walked in a few seconds after me with an amused smile on her face.

“How does The Little Mermaid sound?” she asked, holding up the movie and grinning at me.

“Perfect!” I smiled. Mum knew this was one of my absolute favorite movies. My little mind loved the idea of mermaids and since I knew that magic was real thanks to Grayson, I hoped that mermaids such as Ariel existed (I know now that mermaids do exist, but they are nothing like Ariel).

Mum put the movie in and then sat down beside me. I layed my head down in her lap and she pet my hair lovingly. This is how we always sat for Samuels’ Scintillating Saturdays. When Gray was here, he would sit on the floor in front of us or by my feet.

Per usual, I hummed or sang along to every song. Mum laughed an occasionally hummed along.

When the movie ended and the credits began to slide across the screen, my mum spoke for the first time throughout the movie. “Lizzie, sit up.” I complied, slightly confused. I sat cross-legged looking at her.

“Yeah?” I asked, cocking my head to the side in question.

“Soon, you’ll most likely be heading off to Hogwarts with Grayson, and I just wanted to tell you that no matter what world you get thrown into, I will always love you. Just like King Triton. Ariel left him in the ocean to go to the human world and he still loved her. Our story is reversed but it is just as true. You’ll be leaving me here in the human world to go join the wizarding world and I will still love you.”

“I know, mum,” I smiled at her, still semi-confused. She didn’t have to make me sit up for this, and if I know her at all, she has more to say.

“What?” I asked quietly. I watched her rub her eye ‘stealthily’, rubbing tears away.

“Oh, nothing,” she laughed, evading my question.

“Mum, you’re crying. This isn’t nothing.”

“It’s just, that,” she began, “this is one of our last Samuels’ Scintillating Saturdays. Like I said, soon you’ll be off to Hogwarts and we’ll only have the summers and holidays together.” A tear dribbled itself down her cheek, leaving a watery trail.

“We don’t even know if I’m a witch. I could be just a regular old muggle.”

“Oh, come on.” She rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Don’t try to tell me that shattering light bulbs when you and Grayson argue isn’t magic.”

“For all we know, that could be Grayson’s magic,” I reassured her.

“What about all of those times your nose lit up when you were scared of noises in the dark? And I know that was you that toppled that street vendors cart the other day.” She gave me a pointed look.

“He kicked that homeless woman!” I defended myself without a second thought.

“My point is that soon you’ll be leaving me and I just want you to know that I love you. Witch or not.”

“I love you too, mum.”


	22. Chapter 22

Draco’s POV:

Spring was coming slowly this year, as if someone were purposefully dragging it out as long as possible. The grass was taking its sweet time poking itself up through the melting snow and the buds on the trees were refusing to open.

Spring was my favorite season. I loved the feeling of the humid air right before a thunderstorm, and the crispness of the chilly morning air.

I sat perched in the window of the Slytherin common room after classes were over watching an odd, blue fish pick at a strand of seaweed when the news reached me. As if by some cruel joke, Blaise was the one to tell me.

“Hey, Malfoy,” Zabini greeted swiftly, taking a seat on the windowsill beside me. 

“Zabini,” I replied simply, not taking my eyes off of the fish.

“How’s it going?” He pulled his legs up in front of him and rested his forearms on his knees.

“It’s going,” I muttered. Blaise knew what was going on in my life. He always knew even though no one ever told him. 

“It sure is,” he chuckled, staring out into the lake. 

For a few moments, I allowed myself to believe that Zabini had simply wanted my company with no ulterior motive, but I was wrong. 

I thought back to how good of friends we used to be in our youth. We would pick on the younger students together before Lizzie told us off. We would copy homework from Lizzie, who sat by frowning disapprovingly. We would practice quidditch together on the pitch when no one else was around. I would be a keeper for him to help improve his chasing skills, and he would play a few seekers games with me before we turned in. 

Those were the good old days. What I wouldn’t give to go back.

“Did you hear about Weasley?” Zabini spoke suddenly, pulling me from my reminiscing.

“No,” I frowned.

“Honestly, I swear you live under a rock sometimes.”

“I’ve been too busy for gossip lately, Zabini,” I snapped.

“This isn’t just gossip though,” he smirked.

“Well, tell me then.” 

Just then, the common room entrance opened and a disheveled Lizzie flew in, her head swiveling. As if reading her mind, I raised my hand from my spot near the window and she spotted me.

“We need to talk,” she panted, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“He was poisoned,” Zabini drawled. Both Lizzie and I snapped our heads towards him.

“What?”

“Draco, please,” Lizzie said, exasperatedly. I grasped Lizzie’s hand and without saying goodbye to Zabini, the two of us left the common room.

Once we were in the corridor, we ducked into the first empty classroom we could find. Lizzie insisted that I cast a silencing and locking spell on the room before she spoke.

It was a dusty room that made me want to gag. It had definitely not been used for ages according to the layer of dust that coated the floor. As the two of us stepped, we kicked up clouds of the stuff.

“Blaise wasn’t lying. Ron was poisoned. I only just found out.” She began to chew on her lip and pick at the hem of her sleeve.

“Okay, but why did we have to leave the common room to talk about this?” I asked.

“That’s the thing. He was poisoned by mead.”

“Alright.” I quirked my eyebrow and waited for her to expand on her statement. 

“Slughorn’s mead.” She winced.

“Your point?” Lizzie looked up at me suddenly, as if she were angry.

“Merlin, do I have to spell it out for you?” she snapped. “It was the mead meant for Dumbledore. That was our poison.”

“Mead… Slughorn did buy the mead. How did Weasley get it, though? It was meant for Dumbledore.”

“Hell if I know,” Liz huffed. “I’m going to see him as soon as we’re done.”

“So he’s alive?”

“Yeah,” she choked, on the verge of tears.

We failed. That was all I could think. We had not only failed to kill the intended target of the poison, but the one who actually ingested it as well.

“Listen, I know that you and Weasley are close-”

“We aren’t close,” she spat. “We’re just- we’re just acquaintances.”

“But he’s alive. You don’t need to worry about him. What we need to worry about, is the fact that we failed to kill Dumbledore, again.”

“Draco, we almost killed someone, again!”

“If we don’t finish this, they’ll kill both of us and both of our families!” I replied.

She was silent for a moment. “I guess you’re right,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, Liz,” I said, bringing her into my arms. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“And I don’t want to be the cause of someone’s death.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I know.

Lizzie’s POV:

I pushed the door to the hospital wing open cautiously with shaking hands. The cool air inside swept over me in a wave, causing me to shiver slightly.

As I stepped inside and the door shut behind me with a thud, those who were surrounding Ron’s bed - including Harry, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean - looked up to me. I shot them all a guilty and walked quietly to the bed. My arms wound themselves around my middle defensively.

“Hey, Lizzie,” Hermione said, patting Ron’s hand.

“How are you?” I whispered to Ron, ignoring Hermione’s greeting. I stood awkwardly at the foot of his bed, looking down on him.

“I’m alive,” he croaked, giving me a small smile. He looked as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all according to the bags under his eyes and was breathing shallowly, wincing each time he took a breath.

“I only just found out, what happened?” My voice shook almost as much as my hands.

“He drank some poisoned mead Slughorn had. Apparently it was a gift intended for Dumbledore,” Harry blurted, with narrowed eyes. I began to chew on my lip as my eyes began to tear up. 

Calm down, Lizzie. You have no need to worry. Harry is just acting paranoid. After all, his best friend almost died...

“If it was poisoned, how is he alive?” 

“I shoved a bezoar down his throat,” Harry drawled. I could feel his green eyes staring at me as if he might get answers that way.

“That’s brilliant, Harry,” I complimented. He had, quite literally, saved Ron’s life. He gave me a curt nod and went back to looking at Ron.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked quietly. Wanting to help and get rid of any suspicions they might’ve had about me and Draco.

“Was it Malfoy?” Harry snapped. Dean and Seamus looked at each other and slipped out of the room quickly. I silently thanked them for understanding what kind of conversation this was.

“W-what?” I took a step back from the force of his question and bit too hard on my lip, tasting the iron tang of blood.

“Did Malfoy poison the mead?” 

“Harry…” Hermione warned him.

“Why would he w-want to do that?” I asked, thinking for a way out of this conversation. A tear dripped down my face and I reached up to wipe it away, hoping no one saw. Harry was still looking at Ron who had his eyes closed, but Hermione was watching me carefully.

“Maybe because you’re Death Eaters?” Harry spat, turning his head quickly.

“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed.

“H-Harry,” I choked.

“You know what?” He stood up quickly. “Don’t even try to deny it or give some excuse because I know what you two are doing. I don’t know why you let Malfoy drag you into the mess, but you’re involved now and you’re going down with him.”

“That’s enough, Harry,” Hermione said firmly.

“No, it’s not. They almost killed Ron! Don’t you care about that?” He threw his hands towards Ron, who was now watching the whole argument with wide eyes.

“Of course I care!” Hermione said, appalled that Harry would ever say that.

“Hey, mate. Honestly, it’s fine,” Ron spoke up. “I’m fine.”

“You are not fine,” Harry snapped. “You almost died, and you would have had Slughorn not happen to have a bezoar!”

“Harry,” I began, but the messy-haired boy cut me off quickly.

“I know you two did it. I know you two cursed Katie, and I will prove it before anyone else gets hurt.” A few more tears slipped down my face and I reached up quickly, wiping them away.

“Hermione,” I wheezed. “C-can I talk to you, alone?” My teeth had put a hole in my lip, which was stinging like crazy at this point, but I couldn’t care less.

“Of course,” she said sweetly, throwing Harry a dirty look.

The girl placed a hand gently on my arm and led me from the hospital wing. She walked us into a nearby abandoned classroom, which she locked and silenced. I then collapsed into a dusty chair and began to sob my eyes out.

“W-we didn’t mean to, Hermion-e,” I sobbed, the words falling out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I swear we didn’t. We didn’t mean to curse Katie or poison Ron, but h-e has my mum.”

“Wait, wait. Slow down, Liz,” she said calmly, kneeling on the floor beside me. “What are you talking about?”

“Y-You-Know-Who. He’s going to kill my mum. He took her from me and he’s going to kill her and then he’s going to kill me and Draco and I don’t know what I’m going to do. My life is just falling apart.” My lungs seemed like they were going to collapse from the pressure of my breathing. I was wheezing like no other as tears flooded down my face.

“What are you saying?” Hermione asked. She knew what I was saying, but she wanted me to say it outloud. She wanted me to confirm her suspicions.

“I’m a Death Eater,” I gasped.


	23. Chapter 23

Lizzie’s POV:

“I’m a Death Eater,” I gasped, pulling my left sleeve up to reveal the ink imprinted into my skin. Hermione remained silent for a few seconds, only reaching out and running a slim finger over the tattoo. “But I have a feeling you’ve known for a while.”

“I had my hunches, but knew nothing for sure,” she muttered. 

“I’m sorry, Hermione,” I wept. “I really, truly am. I didn’t want any of this. It’s my father’ fault. He - he gave me to You-Know-Who, and then over the Christmas holiday, they kidnapped my mum and they’re going to kill her if Draco and I don’t finish the task he gave us.”

“What’s the task?” she whispered.

“We have to kill Dumbledore,” I wailed. Hermione’s face drained of color. “He wants us to kill the greatest wizard who ever lived by the end of term and let his Death Eaters into the castle. Or he’ll kill m-my mum and Draco’s family. I can’t let that happen, Hermione. I just can’t.”

“Kill Dumbledore…” she trailed off.

“He’s going to kill my mum.” My face and top of robes were soaked from tears.

“Does Dumbledore know?”

“Well, I assume he does know, seeing as we have failed twice now!”

“We should tell him. He can help you. He can save your mum,” she offered half-heartedly.

“How?” I snapped through my tears. “I have thought of every possible answer that doesn’t include killing someone and none of them work! He has my mum! I couldn’t protect her.”

“There has to be something,” she murmured.

“There isn’t. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. If You-Know-Who found out, I’d be finished. Everyone would be finished!”

“You’re telling me this because we’re friends, Lizzie, and you’re secret is safe with me.” She took my hand in hers and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“Promise? If this gets out to anyone, the best case scenario is a cell in Azkaban for me and Draco.”

“I promise. I won’t tell anyone,” she replied.

“Thank you, Hermione,” I sputtered. Releasing her hand, I wiped my face of tears. 

“You’re welcome. Nothing is going to happen to you or Draco.”

“But seriously, Hermione, no one can find out about this. Not Harry, not Ron, not Draco.” Hermione was about to respond, with most likely something to reassure me, but a loud pounding noise came from the door. With a huff and a sorry look towards me, she removed the locking and silencing spell.

“Come in,” she called, her voice steady. Not wanting whoever it was to see that I had been crying, I turned my face towards the floor and wiped away any trace of tears that was still left.

“Granger, I was told Lizzie was in here with you,” Draco drawled from the door, looking quite like an angel with the light from the corridor surrounding him like a bright aura.

“I’m right here,” I said, attempting to keep my voice as steady as Hermione’s but utterly failing. Draco wasn’t stupid and noticed, hurrying forward and kneeling on the other side of me such as Hermione had.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

“Nothing.” I put on a faux smile to try and mislead him.

“Lizzie,” he deadpanned, “I’ve known you too long for you to lie to me. Your nose twitches, remember?” I brought my hand up and touched my nose lightly, suddenly self-conscious. “What’s wrong?”

“She had a breakdown over Ron’s poisoning, she said she didn’t want him to end up in a coma like she was last year or even worse. I assured her that it wasn’t her fault and that Ron is fine,” Hermione inputted with a smile. I thanked Merlin for having this girl to save my ass in this moment. I hated lying to Draco.

“Oh,” Draco muttered, taking my hand in his and placing his lips upon it carefully. “It’s all going to be alright, Liz.” I bit my lip and looked at the boy kneeling in front of me, my stomach exploding with adoration. I squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.

Hermione, sensing that it was about time for her to leave, stood up and wiped her hands on the front of her skirt. “Well, I’m going to head back into the hospital wing and see how Ron is doing. Remember, I’m always here for you Lizzie.” The bushy haired girl gave me a bright smile and a wink before exiting the dark room.

Once she was gone, Draco placed a hand on my thigh and looked up at me seriously. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Positive.” My voice shook saying this, but Draco chose to ignore this. 

“When you didn’t come back to the common room, I got worried and came looking for you.” He shifted slightly. “In the hospital wing, Potter told me that you had run off with Hermione. He said it rather rudely, which I don’t understand. I’ve been mostly civil with him for a while.”

“He thinks we cursed Katie and poisoned Ron, remember?” I murmured.

“How?”

“I’m not sure. He started yelling at me in there, saying he knew we’re Death Eaters and would prove it before anyone else got hurt.”

“No one else will get hurt,” he whispered, quickly adding, “other than the necessary.” I remained silent at this, choosing not to speak for the risk of bursting into tears once more. “I was going to suggest we go to the Room of Requirement, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He stood and held a hand out to me. I gladly accepted it and laced our fingers together.

“No,” I told him, “I think we should. It’s been awhile since we’ve been in there and we have a deadline approaching.” I winced at the thought of the quickly approaching summer holiday.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I need something to get my mind off of all of this.” I realized that this statement didn’t make sense, but I was terrified of the idea of Voldemort finding out we hadn’t mended the Vanishing Cabinet in time.

“Alright,” Draco agreed with a sigh.

\-----

Once we were inside the Room Where Everything is Hidden, Draco offered to take the first round of mending and I agreed. As he began to chant the spell over and over, I chose to lie down on an old sofa we had dragged over. Draco’s chanting became a rhythmic lull to me and soon I was asleep, the memories of what happened that day slipping my mind.

My mind gave me a nice dream, trying to calm me.

“Sit still,” Draco commanded firmly. 

“But it’s so hard,” I laughed, watching Draco’s concentration crack with a small smile. 

Draco was drawing me another picture, but for this portrait we were outside by the Great Lake and spring was in full bloom around us. The flowers around my legs were alive with magenta blooms and bees buzzing lazily around. Grass tickled my legs and I kept itching and shifting my position. Hence Draco’s goading. The Birch tree behind me broke the light from the sun into spots that fell onto my pale skin in warm patches. I was sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me, crossed at the ankles and leaning back on my hands.

An owl leapt from a window behind Draco’s head with a parcel clutched in its claws. I watched it soar over the castle and towards the Forbidden Forest, utterly at peace with the world.

Draco’s platinum hair was falling into his face in silky strands. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and run my hands through it, feeling its smooth texture. He was staring down at the parchment rested in his lap occasionally looking up at me or part of my background, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth slightly.

“What are you drawing now?” I asked him for what was probably the millionth time, curious as to where he was.

“Your right leg,” he replied easily. 

I looked down to my right leg. I had never been the skinniest girl, so my legs had a bit of mumbo jumbo to them and Draco insisted that he loved it. My eyes followed the line of my calf muscle down to my ankle and then looked back up to Draco, my mind floating around.

“Why does it take you so long to draw?” I asked, bored of the quiet.

“Why does it take you such a short time to get antsy? You’re going to end up looking like a deformed walrus if you don’t stop wigglin around like that,” he frowned. I had been bouncing my knee and rolling my head around to stretch my neck.

“You know how hard it is for me to sit still,” I countered easily.

“I’m almost done,” he stated simply, smudging something on the parchment with his middle finger. 

I had been watching Draco’s face, bathed in sunlight smirking at me when the real Draco woke me. My eyes opened easily, looking up into his face, which was so unlike the one I had seen in the dream.

“I’m exhausted,” he sighed. Performing this spell over and over took a lot of energy, so by the time Draco and I were done for one session, we were tired to the point of going back to the common room and barely making it to a sofa before collapsing. 

“I’ll take over,” I offered, standing up to allow him access to the sofa. His head had hardly landed before he was sound asleep. 

I stood watching him sleep for a few seconds. The tightness to his face while he was awake disappeared when he slept, making him appear less cross and stressed. I brushed a strand of hair from his forehead before turning to the cabinet.

Draco had made progress while I had slept, and one of the large splinters that had been sticking out on the right side of the door had been sealed. The cabinet was almost completely finished and soon we would have to begin testing the passage between the two. 

“Harmonia Nectere Passus,” I sighed, willing my magic to travel down my arm, through my wand, and to the cabinet.

“Harmonia Nectere Passus.” My wand tingled slightly in my hand as I worked, signaling to me that the spell was in fact working.

“Harmonia Nectere Passus.” The spell was a slow one. Sure, it worked, it got the job done, but it took many uses.

“Harmonia Nectere Passus.” Draco took a deep breath on the sofa behind me which calmed me.


	24. Chapter 24

Draco’s POV:

It was done. While I had been resting, Lizzie had finished mending the Vanishing Cabinet. I couldn’t believe it. Liz had worked almost until the sun rose before she had woken me and told me the news.

“Draco,” she whispered softly into my ear, shaking my shoulder. “Draco, wake up.”

“Hmm?” I hummed, opening my eyes and looking up at her. She looked utterly drained. Her eyes were half open and her face was completely slack, as if she had given up completely.

“It’s finished,” Liz sighed, tilting her head ever so slightly in the direction of the cabinet. I sat up so quickly we almost hit our heads together.

“You finished it?” I croaked, studying the item over her shoulder. Sure enough, the cabinet was completely intact. The splinters that had stuck out at every angle had disappeared. The burn marks had vanished without a trace. It looked as if it was purchased only yesterday. “Merlin…”

“I actually think I finished about an hour ago, but I wanted to be sure, so I just kept casting until nothing happened.” 

“Why don’t you sit down? You look way overworked,” I offered, leading her to the sofa. “What time is it anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” she said quietly with a yawn. “I’ve been working for hours.” I cast a quick Tempus to discover that it was 4:48 in the morning. 

“Merlin, Liz! Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Once I had started casting, I just couldn’t stop. It was like I was in a trance. The spell just kept falling from my lips.”

“Alright, let’s get you back to the common room.” I helped her up and wrapped an arm around her waist, suddenly realizing how weak she was from exertion. 

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Common room.”

The trek to the dungeons was a precarious one. Liz was completely out of it, staring at the portraits and humming an unfamiliar tune under her breath.

I tried to move us along more quickly. If we were to be caught out of bed this far past curfew, the consequences would be terrible, I feared, and we had no room for mistakes at the moment.

Once we were safely inside the common room, I led Lizzie to the sofa directly in front of the fire and set her down. She immediately set her head down and was breathing deeply, asleep. I smiled softly and summoned a blanket from one of the other sofas before lying down beside her.

\-----

When I awoke the next day, it was about lunch time and Liz was still soundly asleep, her hair a mess about her head. With a smile making its way onto my lips, I brushed some of the auburn strands from her forehead. She must have felt my touch, because she sighed and pressed her body against mine.

I stayed there for a few moments, watching Lizzie sleep and absently petting her hair before deciding to wake her up. I figured it was about lunch time and if she was close to how hungry I was, she wouldn’t be too happy for the rest of the day. 

“Hey, love,” I whispered, placing my hand on the side of her face, “time to wake up if you want to make lunch.”

“Mmmmm,” she groaned as she turned herself, face in the sofa.

“Come on, Liz,” I chuckled lightly. “If you don’t get up now, you’ll be famished by dinner.” She mumbled something unintelligible into the sofa and got more comfortable with a bit of wiggling. “What was that?”

She turned her head with an exasperated sigh and said, “We can just sneak down to the kitchen later.” I laughed an airy laugh and stood up. Placing my arms around Liz’s waist, I hoisted her into the air. She gave a small squeak of surprise and began to squirm.

“You know if you don’t get up now, you won’t get up later.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to pick me up, you caveman!” Suddenly she was wide awake.

“Woke you up though, didn’t it?” I asked, placing her on her feet in front of me. She had a scowl on her face worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself. “Let’s head to lunch now, shall we?” 

With a huff, she replied, “Might as well.” She looped her arm through mine and we began our journey across the castle.

As we neared the Great Hall, I turned to Liz and said, “I’m going to head to the toilet, you head on in and save us a seat, alright?”

“M’kay,” she hummed in reply, turning and walking into the Great Hall slowly.

With a sigh, I turning around and hurrying towards the restroom, not wanting to leave Liz alone for too long.

When I had finished my business, I returned to the Great Hall. Lizzie was sitting at the Slytherin table, staring at the empty plate in front of her and, as if she sensed my presence, she looked up. The anxiety that was written across her face disappeared as she gave me a small smile. I returned it sweetly before making my way towards her.

As I was walking down the aisle, I looked up and saw Potter facing away from me, speaking with someone surrounded by a group of girls. I quirked an eyebrow but continued walking until Potter shifted slightly on his feet and I saw the person he was talking with. I felt all of the color drain from my face in an instant and my feet stopped walking. My eyes flickered over to Lizzie, who had noticed that something was wrong and followed my line of sight. She looked about the same way I felt when she saw Katie Bell.

Katie’s eyes caught mine and Potter spun on his heel, his eyes narrowing dangerously when he spotted me. Without waiting, I began to back up, my feet threatening to trip me. I whipped around and practically ran from the Hall.

She remembered. Katie Bell remembered who had cursed her. Somehow she had connected Madam Rosmerta to me and Liz and now we were doomed to end up in Azkaban. It was all my fault. I dragged Liz into this and now we were going to take the fall.

My feet moved without me telling them where to go, and soon I was in Moaning Myrtle’s toilet, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I was standing with my hands gripping either side of the sink so tight my knuckles were turning white. 

Then the tears began to fall. Slowly at first, maybe one at a time, but then speeding up until my body was shaking with sobs. My head drooped until my chin was against my chest and I was staring down into the dirty sink.

I suddenly realized how hopeless this task was. How were two sixteen year old wizards supposed to kill the great Albus Dumbledore? Voldemort had handed us our death sentence with this task.

“Don’t,” crooned a girl’s voice from somewhere to my left. “Don’t… tell me what’s wrong… I can help you…” The girl’s voice sounded as if it were leagues away, but I knew she was just hiding in one of the cubicles. It was Moaning Myrtle, no doubt. She had always been fascinated with me and often snuck into my shower through the pipes.

“No one can help me," I replied, my face soaked with tears. "I can't do it… I can't… It won't work… and unless we do it soon... he says he'll kill us..." 

I looked up into the mirror to see my reflection, to see just how horrid I looked now, when I saw someone over my shoulder. Spinning around, I drew my wand, and pointed it at the figure. He drew his wand as well.

I threw a silent hex towards Potter, purposefully missing him by a solid six inches, hoping that would be enough to tell him to go away, but he didn’t take the hint. He threw his own spell at me, but I blocked it with an easy flick of my wrist. 

“No! No! Stop it!” Myrtle shrieked. “Stop! STOP!” 

The two of us ignored the ghost. Bombarda, I thought, aiming my wand towards the bin behind Potter. It exploded, tossing rubbish into the air. It rained down like dense snow around us. Pieces of paper towel got caught in the other boy’s hair.

A jet of purple light soared towards me from Potter’s wand and I hit the floor, causing the spell to hit the toilet beneath Myrtle. Water began to quickly flood the tiles, spreading across floor like fingers reaching out for us, wanting to drag us away from our duel.

I leapt to my feet and darted around the sinks behind me, Potter following hot on my heels. He shot spells blindly, hitting anything and everything that was in his way and slipping in the water coating the tiles.

And then anger began to pulse through my veins, and the urge to protect Lizzie, who was tied into all of this due to me, I pulled an unthinkable move. “Cruci-” I had been preparing to cast the Cruciatus Curse, but Potter, who was hopelessly faster than me, cast his spell first.

“Sectumsempra!” he shouted. I felt confusion at the spell, having never heard it before, for a split second. Then the pain hit me. It hit me like a wall. I was fine one second and then suddenly, I was trapped in its cruel embrace.

Blood spurted from my face and torso, where the pain radiated from. Agonising white-hot flames felt like they were licking their way up my body, excruciatingly squeezing all the breath from me. I could feel my skin splitting open in long gashes along my abdomen as if a sword had sliced me. 

I stood still for a few moments, in shock and not sure what had happened, until I staggered back and collapsed into the water that was collecting on the floor, shaking violently.

“No-” Potter gasped.

Black spots began to swim across my field of vision. I was losing blood very quickly. The pain was unbearable. My nerves were throbbing horrendously with the biting agony. The room began to pitch in my vision.

“No- I didn’t-”

And as suddenly as the pain had appeared, it disappeared, and I was seeing Lizzie’s face. Her auburn hair was falling down her shoulders in beautiful waves and an aura of white light surrounded her head. Her stormy grey eyes shined down on me and I couldn’t help but be entranced by them. 

Anything else that might have been going on around me at the moment was dulled. My ears felt as if they were filled with cotton and my body refused to move at my command.

I stared into her angelic face until my vision went black.


	25. Chapter 25

Lizzie’s POV:

My stomach grumbled at me angrily, begging for food, but I knew I would throw anything I might eat right back up. I sat staring at the ceramic plate in front of me, trying to keep my mind from wandering to the cabinet, without success.

I had actually finished the cabinet. After seven months. The next step was to test the passage, and then once Draco and I were sure that it was sufficient, we would bring the Death Eaters into the castle. They would wreck havoc and injure so many innocent students. 

My eyes flicked up and landed naturally on a blonde student at the Ravenclaw table. She was a small first year eating by herself. 

Tears pricked at my eyes. I didn’t want to be the cause of anyone. That little girl could die because of me. Her and all of her friends and all of their friends. One of the tears dripped from my eye, but I reached up and dried the trail before any more could follow. 

Changing the train of my thought, I began to think of Draco. My handsome, amazing, brave Draco. I smiled at just the thought of him and his obnoxiously blonde hair, which seemed almost white as snow when the sun landed on it. 

Speaking of the devil, he walked into the Great Hall, eyes on his feet. He looked up at me and we smiled gently at each other before he began to make his way to me. His feet moved slowly, as if he were overly tired.

I moved over slightly to make room for him to sit beside me, and when I looked back to him, he was stopped quite suddenly in the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw staring forwards. All of the color was drained from his face. He gave me a quick glance and I followed his gaze.

My face drained of color just as Draco’s had. Katie Bell was standing there speaking with Harry Potter, the one boy who was determined to bring about mine and Draco’s demise. Katie gave her head a small shake and then Harry wheeled around on his heel, facing Draco, who took a few steps backwards before turning and hurrying from the room. Harry said a few more words to Katie before following Draco at a jog.

I was frozen. I couldn’t move. 

Katie remembered who had cursed her and had just told Harry. Harry had the proof he needed to lock me and Draco in a cell in Azkaban. 

We were doomed, absolutely doomed. 

Harry was going to tell Dumbledore that we had used an Unforgivable Curse on a student and he would send us away at once. We wouldn’t be able to finish our task, therefore, Voldemort would kill my mum without a second thought.

Draco and I were going to be locked up in Azkaban, and my mum would be dead.

My heart clenched and skipped a beat, threatening to stop from the terror of the thought.

Someone down the Slytherin table laughed loudly, forcing me to realize that Draco had left the room in a hurry and Harry had followed him. I forced my feet to stand, and I moved robotically out of the Great Hall after them. The only problem was that I didn’t know where they had went. 

Where would Draco had gone?

My first thought was the astronomy tower, so my feet shuffled in that direction. I had to get there before those two boys destroyed each other.

As I was passing Moaning Myrtle’s loo, I heard a loud ruckus from within. Immediately knowing it was Draco and Harry inside, I pushed the door open.

I appeared just in time to see Draco dart around the sinks, Harry following him closely. I splashed forwards through the water that had somehow collected on the floor, trying to call out to them, but my vocal chords were frozen. 

I heard the unmistakable sound of Draco’s voice begin to shout something, only to be cut off by Harry, who shouted, “Sectumsempra!” My eyes fell on Draco just as Harry’s curse hit him. Blood spilled from giant slashes that appeared across his chest.

“No-” Harry gasped. Draco looked down at himself before collapsing back onto the ground with a splash. 

This time my heart did stop.

My hands flew to my mouth and I hurried forwards until I was at Draco’s side. I wanted to scream, but no noise came out. I kneeled beside him, my legs becoming soaked with the standing water.

“What did you do?” I wheezed at Harry, placing my hands on Draco’s chest to staunch the bleeding. I tried to remember any healing spell that I could, but my mind was working about as well as my vocal chords. Draco stared back at me with a complacent look on his face; I could see that he was quickly slipping out of consciousness. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” I screamed at Harry, tears flooding my face. My hands pressed against his wounds and I was sure I was hurting him, but I didn’t care. I needed this boy.

“I- I didn’t-” Harry stuttered. Draco’s eyes began to flutter shut. He losing blood too fast. If I didn’t do something soon, I was going to lose him for good.

“No,” I sobbed violently, “No, Draco. Stay with me! Please!” He blinked once more before his eyes shut completely with a sense of finality. I was trembling with fury and terror.

“Don’t just stand there! Go get help!” I yelled at Harry, who was standing by, stuttering and staring. “Draco, love, wake up. Wake up!” My lungs began to constrict, squeezing all the air from me. I felt as if an automobile had been dropped on me. I heaved, my lungs desperately gasping for air.

My world was crashing down around me. 

As if by some miracle, Professor Snape rushed into the room, his robes billowing out behind him dramatically. Without a word he knelt on the other side of Draco, opposite of me, and drew his wand, following the lines of the slices in Draco’s skin. He was muttering some spell under his breath; I couldn’t catch any of the words, but it seemed to be working, for the blood flow began slow down. The wounds seemed to be knitting themselves shut.

I sat by, sobbing still, watching Snape working and begging to Merlin, God, and whoever else was out there that Draco would be alright. I didn’t know what I would do without him.

After Snape had finished his spell for the third time, he lifted Draco into a standing position and gave me a glance, asking me to help him without words. I listened without hesitation, slipping my arm under Draco’s armpit and sliding it around his waist. The water and blood that soaked his clothes was seeping through my own, but I couldn’t have cared less. “We need to get him to the hospital wing. There may be a certain scarring, but if he takes dittany immediately we might avoid even that… Come…” We limped towards the door, but before the door was opened, Snape turned his head to Harry. “And you, Potter… You wait here for me.” 

As we hobbled towards the hospital wing, Draco’s head lolling dangerously, Snape said nothing. He didn’t ask how it happened. He didn’t ask for one single detail. It unnerved me how calm yet utterly furious he was.

Once we were through the doorway, Madam Pomfrey rushed over and directed us to a nearby cot, where we deposited the boy. As soon as Draco was safely lying down, Snape turned and left the room in another flurry of robes. I assumed it was to go deal with Harry.

Pomfrey immediately got to work, summoning a small dropper bottle from her office. “Remove his shirt very carefully, dear,” she commanded softly, summoning other items from her office.

I leaned forwards and began to work at the buttons on Draco’s shirt, meticulously pushing them through the small holes. My hands were shaking so bad from horror and sobs that I struggled, but by the time Pomfrey had finished summoning her items, Draco’s shirt was unbuttoned. 

“Alright, dear, I would ask you to leave, but I know that’s a lost cause, so I’m going to ask you to help me. Is that okay?” Madam Pomfrey took her wand from her pocket and gave me a gentle stare.

“A-alright,” I choked.

“First, I need you to calm down. Take a few deep breaths. Mr. Malfoy is in good hands,” she spoke clearly, holding her wand out to me. I listened to her, taking deep breaths (hiccupping often), and accepted the wand from her. “Wonderful. I just need you to hold that from me for a moment while I apply the dittany.” I nodded sharply.

The woman squeezed the dropper and removed it from the bottle before holding it over Draco’s body. She tenderly pressed slightly on the dropper and a few drops of the liquid inside dripped onto the boy’s skin. It began to sizzle slightly, greenish smoke rising. I drew in a sharp breath and Pomfrey noticed. “That’s perfectly normal, dear.”

As the smoke cleared, I saw that the areas that she had applied the dittany had stopped bleeding completely and new skin stretched over the wound. It now looked several days old.

Madam Pomfrey held her hand out, indicating she was ready for her wand. I placed it shakingly into her open palm and watched carefully as she held it over Draco and began to whisper unidentifiable words. The blood staining his chest and face began to disappear, as if it were evaporating, and the gashes began to scab over.

“Alright, dear. That’s all I can do for now,” Pomfrey said after wrapping Draco in bandages. “I’m going to let you stay in here with him, but no one else is to see him, and if anything happens, anything at all, you must summon me at once, understand?” I nodded numbly.

I sat down in the chair nearby and amiably took his hand in both of mine. It was beyond cold, sending a shiver down my spine.


	26. Chapter 26

Lizzie’s POV:

I was sitting in the chair beside Draco’s bed with my head lying on the bed and his hands gripped softly in mine, when he began to stir. I hadn’t noticed until he placed his hand upon my head and smoothed my hair.

“Lizzie,” he croaked.

My head shot into the air so fast that the room spun. “You’re awake,” I breathed with a smile.

“Quite a keen observation,” he gumbled.

“How do you feel?” His bleary eyes scanned the hospital wing around us, putting the puzzle pieces together in his mind. 

“Like shit.” He attempted to sit up, face contorting with pain, but I stood and placed my hands on him, forcing to lie back down.

“No, Draco,” I said firmly. “Look, just moving that much caused fresh blood to seep into your bandages.” It was true. Draco looked down at his chest, and sure enough, there were deep red lines of fresh blood soaking through his bandages. With a defeated huff, he gave up. “I’m going to get Madam Pomfrey. Don’t do anything stupid.” I gave him a pointed look and hurried towards Madam Pomfrey’s office, which was at the back of the hospital wing.

When I knocked on the door, she was sitting at her desk sorting through a box phials filled with colorful potions. She looked up at me, and upon seeing who I was, placed the phial she was holding, which had been filled with a goopy orange substance, back into the box and motioned for me to enter. I pushed the door open and gave her a serious look. “He’s awake.”

“Already?” she asked with raised eyebrows. I replied with a short nod of my head. “Goodness me, those spells certainly did the job then, didn’t they?” Together we made our way back to Draco’s bed, where the boy had, thankfully, not done anything stupid in my absence. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” she greeted him.

“You know of muggle princesses?” I asked curiously as the woman began to peel Draco’s bandages off of his chest. She started on one bandage that began just left of Draco’s neck and ended below his left ribs.

“Why of course. My sister is a squib and moved into the muggle world. She taught me all about muggle fairy stories, and some of them are not so muggle, if I remember correctly.” She peeled the bandage off completely, revealing the wound below. The tissue was mostly healed in some spots, due to all of the spells that had been cast upon him, but there were plenty of areas where the new skin had been torn back open from his attempt to it up. “Alright, Mr. Malfoy,” she sighed. “The new skin tissue seems to be coming along in tip top shape, but whatever you did overnight, tore it open in some spots. You will most likely have some scars left over at the end of all of this.”

“The new tissue,” I began, “since it tore due to his movements, will he be bed bound until it’s fully healed?”

“Oh no,” she returned sweetly, beginning to peel off another bandage. This one started just under his right pectoral and stretched down to the hem of his trousers. Draco winced as she pulled it off. “You will be perfectly allowed to go about your everyday routine in a few days, but there is absolutely no strenuous activity until the wounds are well past healed. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Draco replied with a frown. 

Once all of the bandages were removed, including the one the covered his right cheek, Madam Pomfrey cast a few spells on the gashes before covering them in new bandages.

“Alright, that should do it,” she said when she was finished. “You stay in bed.” Satisfied, Pomfrey walked back to her office.

“So did Potter get expelled?” Draco asked, running a finger along his bandages. He looked as if he wanted to tear them off of his body, like they were constricting him. 

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I’ve been here since you have.” I really didn’t want to think about Harry right now. Our supposed ‘Chosen One’ had almost killed one of the only people in the world that I’m sure I love.

“You were here the whole night?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah. Did you expect me to leave?” I raised an eyebrow as well, trying to mimic his expression - one of accusation and love.

“Well, I suppose not,” he answered. “What exactly happened? It’s all a bit fuzzy.” He brought a hand up to his head and rubbed his forehead.

“Uh- Well- What do you remember for sure?”

“I remember…” Draco closed his eyes, concentrating. “I remember Katie Bell… I remember… Moaning Myrtle? Why do I remember Moaning Myrtle?”

“Okay, after we saw Harry talking to Katie, you left the Great Hall, Harry followed you, and I followed you a bit after. You two were dueling in Moaning Myrtle’s loo. Right after I walked in, Harry used an odd curse. You fell backwards into the water that was all over the floor. I yelled at Harry a bit and then you blacked out and Snape came in. He saved your life.”

“So you were there,” he muttered.

“I was,” I answered. “Did you think I wasn’t?”

“I wasn’t too sure. I saw you leaning over me and you seemed so surreal. Like an angel.”

“Well, I was there and I’m not an angel. Sorry,” I chuckled. 

“I beg to differ,” he returned. “Anyway, are you alright?”

“Am I alright?” I asked, incredulous. “Draco, you’re the one who nearly died.”

“But you’re the one who had to watch it. That’s got to do something to a person.”

“I don’t think I’ve fully accepted it all,” I spoke, furrowing my eyebrows. “Otherwise Harry would be dead.” Draco tried to laugh at this, but winced from the pain it caused him and immediately stopped. I drew in a sharp breath and grasped his hand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He gave me a small, reassuring smile to try and hide the pain he was in, but I knew him too well. The smile was lopsided due to the bandage that covered one side of his face.  
“Are you hungry? I’m sure I could catch the tail end of breakfast if I hurry,” I offered, pointing over my shoulder at the door with my thumb. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Would probably do both of us some good,” he said. “Give you a chance to stretch your legs.”

“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll be quick.”

I stood from my chair beside Draco’s bed, my back cracking along with my knees. 

Once I was in front of the Great Hall, I took a deep breath, pausing for a moment, and hurried into the room. The chatter carried on as I rushed towards the Slytherin table, ensuring me that my plan was going well so far. 

I neared the Slytherin table and grabbed two apples, two pieces of toast, and loaded a plate with eggs and bacon. I shoved the apples into the pocket of my robes and adjusted my grip on the plate. I had placed the toast on top of the eggs. 

With a deep breath, I began to speed from the room

“Lizzie!” I heard someone call me from over my shoulder. Recognizing the voice, I felt anger bubble in my stomach, feeling the urge to scream and throw every curse I knew, but reminded myself that I was surrounded by thousands of witnesses, so I began to walk quicker. “Lizzie, wait up!” The voice was closer to me this time, and just as I was about to step into the safety of the corridor, a hand touched my shoulder.

“Get your hand off of me,” I seethed, wheeling around and glaring as coldly as I could. He withdrew his hand with an expression of near-terror.

“How’s Draco?” he asked quietly.

“Why should you care?” I snapped easily.

“I didn’t mean to-”

I cut him off before he finished his sentence. “I don’t care if you meant to. You did it.”

“I’m really sorry, Lizzie,” he mumbled.

“And I really don’t care,” I sneered. “You are dead to me, Harry Potter.” He winced and I didn’t stick around to hear his response; I turned and stormed back to the hospital wing.

Draco noticed something was bothering me when I passed him the food. “What happened? You’re mumbling angrily.” I hadn’t noticed, but he was right, I was cursing Harry under my breath. The air around me was literally sparking and smelled of ozone.

“Had a run in with Harry,” I replied, my nose flaring just from the thought.

“And?”

“He asked how you were doing.”

“And?”

 

“I told him he was dead to me.” I took a bite from one of the apples. Draco gave a great wheeze which I took as a makeshift laugh. “He’s lucky I didn’t actually kill him.”


	27. Chapter 27

Draco’s POV:

I was allowed to leave the hospital wing four days after I was initially cursed, only after Madam Pomfrey was sure I was absolutely ready to go about my daily routine safely. I wasn’t to do any strenuous activity for at least a month and was to drink plenty of water to encourage further healing. The gashes that had been carved into my body had been reduced to nothing but pale, white scars. However, the skin on my chest and face still felt tight when I took deep breaths or laughed, so I tried to keep that to a minimum. 

Madam Pomfrey had allowed Lizzie to stay with me most of the first day I was in the hospital wing but had forced her to go back to classes after that. Liz brought me my homework, food, and things to keep me busy. One day she had brought me an armful of muggle books that she thought I might enjoy. Though I probably never admit it, they were bloody nice books.

As far as I know, Potter, who hadn’t been expelled or even suspended, hadn’t attempted to approach Lizzie any further. He brilliantly avoided me, walking by me in the corridor with his head down and didn’t look at me once during meals or classes. If he had, I would have hexed him into next year. Maybe worse.

“How are you feeling?” Liz hummed quietly to me as she was lying on the black leather sofa in the Slytherin common room with her head in my lap. I watched the flames of the fire flicker while running my fingers through her hair.

“Fine,” I sighed lightly. “Could be better, could be worse.” Some third year behind us slammed his textbook shut loudly, making Liz jump.

“You know,” she whispered, “with the end term coming up fast, we have to do something. Test it soon.” I caught my lip in between my teeth.

“I know,” I replied. “When should we start?” I pressed my lips to her forehead and closed my eyes, dreading the days that I knew would be coming.

“As soon as possible, I reckon,” she mumbled. “I mean term ends in, what? A month, right?”

I froze, realizing she was right. Term would be ending in early June, and it was May 10th today. “Should we go now? Just to see what state we’re in?” 

“Sure,” she responded, sitting up and looking at me. “I love you.” She lifted her hand and brushed my hair off of my forehead. 

I gave her a smile and leaned forward, placing a quick kiss on her lips. “I love you too.”

\-----

Inside the Room Where Everything is Hidden, the newly mended Vanishing Cabinet stared down on me and Liz, our fates carved into its wood. 

We had decided to test on only inanimate objects for now, until we were sure that the cabinet worked, and then we would transfigure items into small animals to test on. A few days before I had been cursed, I had owled Borgin and told him that Liz and I would be testing the passage soon. He responded that he would be ready when we were. 

And now there we were, standing in front of the ominous cabinet with an item in each hand. Liz had a small, black pillow and a ceramic mug with a chipped lip. I held a green apple and a glass figurine of a grindylow. The idea was that with the more fragile items, we would be able to test how travelling through the passage would affect whatever or whoever was to go through.

“Shall we start with your pillow?” I offered, placing my items on a nearby table that wobbled hopelessly. 

“I suppose so.” She placed the mug beside my items before pulling the intricate door open and placing the pillow in the center of the cabinet. “How are we supposed to know if it gets through to Borgin?”

“We can leave that to him. He’ll figure it out.” Nodding, Liz shut the door and took a step back. I reached out and grasped her hand in my own.

The cabinet made an odd noise - sort of like a suction being broken and a lock clicking into place at the same time. Lizzie turned her head and looked to me with scared eyes. I pulled the door open, which revealed that the pillow was gone. Beside me, Liz sucked in a sharp breath of air.

Just as I shut the door and took a step back, the cabinet made another odd noise - this one not unlike the same lock-clicking-into-place as before. Upon opening the door this time, the pillow was revealed. It looked the same as when Liz had placed it in, however, it now had a golden ribbon tied around it. The golden ribbon tied around our fate, delivered to us like a present.

“It worked,” Liz breathed.

“You got that right.” I picked the pillow up and examined it. It was in the exact same condition it was when it went in. Same frayed threads, same tear in the seam, and same green stain. 

“Let’s try the apple next,” she spoke up, having examined the pillow herself. “It’s something semi-living.”

“Alright.” I picked the apple up from the sofa, tossing it from hand to hand, and placed it in the cabinet. It made the same suction noise and was empty upon opening. When the apple returned, it had a bite taken from it, startling bright against the darkness around us. 

All of the items came back in the same condition that they had gone in. The pillow with the same tears and a gold ribbon, the apple with the bite, the mug with the chip and a gold ribbon around its handle, and the grindylow with a ribbon around its neck, almost like a noose. The golden noose tied around our necks, locking our fate in place.

Liz had been growing more and more distressed the further into testing we had gone, so by the time the last item returned, I decided that we had done enough work for one day. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail at the base of her neck and was continuously pushing the loose strands behind her ears. Her eyebrows had been glued into the same furrowed position the entire time.

“I think that’s enough for today,” I told her, wrapping my arms around her. She nodded and buried her face into the crook between my neck and shoulder. I rubbed her back and leaned my head against hers, just holding her there for a few moments.

Several times over, just today, our fate had been delivered to us with golden ribbons, as if someone found it a cruel joke to try and trick us into thinking it was a gift. It wasn’t. We were being delivered to our deaths and I think we both knew it. At least we were going together, to make it all a bit more bearable.


	28. Chapter 28

Lizzie’s POV: 

I woke up from my short and restless sleep to the sight of a blonde headed angel leaning over my bed. 

“Good morning, love,” he smiled down at me, his new scar pulled taut on his cheek.

“Morning,” I yawned, stretching before sitting up and pulling my hair up into a sloppy bun. I ran my fingers under my my eyes and felt the gentle tendrils of tiredness trying to pull be back to sleep. “What time is it?” I looked out the window to see that the murky lake water was dark, indicating that it was still before sunrise, and the rest of my dormmates were still asleep.

“Probably around 6:15,” he whispered, following my sight-line out the window.

“6:15?” I asked in awe. “Why’d you wake me up so early?” I generally get grumpy when I’m woken up early, and I could really use the sleep to try and make up for all the sleep I had missed. 

“For the record,” Draco began, running a hand through his white-blonde hair, “I didn’t wake you up, you woke up all by yourself-”

“Your presence woke me,” I frowned.

“My presence woke you,” he scoffed.

“Yes,” I countered grumpily.

“Anyway, I came in here because I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” I asked cautiously, my interest piqued. 

“I do, so throw on your robes and let’s go. I want to get done before class starts.” He stood up and smirked at me.

“Alright,” I agreed, getting out of bed and dressing quickly. 

I loved surprises. For Christmas when I was younger, I would never go sneaking around my house trying to find the gifts like Gray did. I wanted to be surprised come the time to open them.

Once I had my robes on, Draco and I left the common room, which was still empty due to the time. He led me through the maze of corridors to a large portrait of a bowl of fruit. 

“Here we are,” he said, facing the painting. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Draco in question.

“Uh, where exactly is ‘here’?” I asked. 

“You’ll see,” he smirked once again. I huffed and watched impatiently as Draco reached forward and quickly rubbed the pear with his finger. It squirmed, making me jerk in surprise, and then it laughed. The bloody pear, which didn’t even have a mouth, bloody laughed. Once it was finished with it’s laughing fit, it transformed into a green doorknob. With a sideways smirk at me, Draco turned the doorknob and pulled the portrait like it was a door. It opened easily and, immediately, the sound of pots banging and small squeaky voices rushed at me. 

As we walked through the doorway, an enormous, high-ceilinged room, just as large as the Great Hall with brass pots and pans heaped around the walls and a great brick fireplace at the opposite end, came into view. 

“Is this…” I trailed off, my eyes still furrowed.

“Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchens,” Draco announced, arms spread out as small creatures ran about, preparing toast, eggs, bacon, and other such breakfast foods.

“House elves?” 

“Who did you think made our food?” Draco asked, turning to me.

“I guess I never really thought of it,” I replied, watching one particular elf with a purple hat on her head levitate a dozen eggs through the air. She did this bit of wandlessly magic so effortlessly that my already furrowed eyebrows, furrow even more.

“Well, I suppose you’re wondering what your surprise is?”

“I am,” I answered.

“If you’ll follow me this way, mademoiselle.” He then made a show of escorting me towards a small circular table in the corner, and none of the house elves gave us more than a glance.

“Merci,” I thanked him for pulling my chair out for me. 

“Vous êtes les bienvenus.” He winked at me as he took a seat across from me. He then held up his hands and clapped quickly. I had to suppress a laugh at this. A second later, two house elves came over holding trays with large silver covers. The smaller of the two placed one of the trays in front of me and bowed before hurrying back to her work.

“What is this?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“This is your surprise,” he replied, removing the covers with a flourish. In front of me, there was a plate of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, a bowl of pineapple beside it. 

“Breakfast?” I asked. 

“Indeed.” He picked up a cloth napkin and folded it across his lap with a smile.

“Alright…” I laughed, doing the same with my napkin. Picking up my fork, I gave Draco an odd look.

“Do you know why?” He cut off a very small portion of his waffle and dipped it into the whipped cream before placing it into his mouth.

“I can’t say that I do,” I said, stabbing a slice of pineapple.

“Seriously?” He looked at me, agape. I shook my head with an aura of amusement. “Lizzie, it’s your birthday!”

I almost choked on my pineapple and looked back to Draco, who was looking back at me in surprise. “Are you sure? What is today?”

“May 19th,” he answered easily.

“Merlin, you’re right.”

“Well, happy birthday,” he smiled.

“Thank you.” I smiled in return. I had been seventeen for almost 7 hours and had no idea. I probably wouldn’t have ever realized had Draco not said something.

“You honestly forgot your own birthday?” 

With a guilty look, I said, “I have more pressing matters on my life.” 

“Touche, mademoiselle.” 

“So what’s with all the French, monsieur?” I asked, placing a chunk of waffle in my mouth. For once this year, I was actually feeling a solid appetite. I felt as if I could finish this whole waffle and the pineapple that came along with it.

“Bien, ma belle petite amie, le français est la langue de l'amour.” He gave me a wink.

“The language of love,” I mused. “Je vous remercie pour ce merveilleux petit déjeuner.” I thanked him for the wonderful breakfast, which made him start.

“Since when do you know French?” 

“I’ve been doing a bit of reading.”

“C’est tres chaud,” he smirked.

“Merci,” I replied with a dip of my head.

\-----

Throughout the day, I received a total of three birthday wishes. One from Draco, one from Grayson, and one very brief one from Hermione. The fact that she even knew my birthday and had remembered it touched me.

Grayson had sent me Newt Scamander’s book titled, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and a short letter.

Liz,

How’s Hogwarts these days? I do miss my days on the quidditch field, and, tell me, is McGonagall still teaching? The old hag always seemed to have it out for me...

I saw this book quite a while ago and I immediately thought of you. You were always reading those books about sappy love stories or journeys around the world when we were growing up, and I was always telling you that you wouldn’t learn anything from them. You always replied with the same thing. ‘There’s more than one way to go about getting intelligence, Gray.’ So, here I am, giving you a book that will actually help you get through life and might interest you some at the same time. 

Happy birthday, Squirt. Hope seventeen treats you well.

Love,  
Gray

(PS - I know this was a textbook for first year, but, come on, we both know you didn’t actually read it. You should give it a go this time. It’s genuinely a good book.)

I sent him a quick reply thanking him and telling him that I hoped he was okay. 

I found myself waiting for my mum’s letter before I caught myself and realized that she couldn’t send me anything. She had been kidnapped. My heart broke in that moment and I broke down crying on my bed with the curtains shut tightly and warded thoroughly. I missed her loads.

When I had dried my tears and made sure that my face wasn’t too red and splotchy in the toilet mirror, I made my way to the library with my arms wrapped tightly around Grayson’s gift. My feet seemed to stick to the stones as I walked.

I hated to admit it to myself, but it had been a while since I had thought about my missing mother. I had been so preoccupied with the Vanishing Cabinet to get her back, that I had almost forgotten about her. Because of this, I wanted to throw myself off the top of the astronomy tower. 

When I arrived in the library, I hurried to the furthest, back corner and sat myself down. Even though I was only days away from murder, I told myself that I deserved some time to myself on my birthday, so I began to read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 

Grayson was right when he had said we both knew I hadn’t read the book in first year, and, coincidentally, somewhere along the way from then to now, I had lost it.

I read for what seemed like hours, becoming absorbed into the world of mystical beasts and when the sunlight that had been creeping across my page ever so slowly disappeared and cast the words into shadow, I closed the book and stood, vowing that I would find time to finish the it soon. 

Little did I know, that that would be the last time I read that book for a very long time.


	29. Chapter 29

Draco’s POV:

A week and a half after Lizzie’s birthday, we stole away to the Room of Requirement after curfew, intending to start our trials on living things. As we weaved our way through our well-worn path to the Vanishing Cabinet, I noticed Liz’s lip was caught between her teeth. She was chewing on it nervously.

“Are you nervous?” I whispered, slipping my hand into hers. She nodded wordlessly in reply. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, I spoke quietly. “We’ll get through this, you know. I promise.” She nodded again.

The cabinet loomed over us as we approached it, and since we would be testing living things today, it seemed to be more ominous and foreboding than usual.

Trying to stall a bit, I looked around, searching for an item to transfigure as Liz took a seat on the sofa nearby. She folded her hands in her lap and continued to chew on her lip. 

My eyes landed on a white and black marbled ashtray, which looked as if it had never been used. With a sigh, I picked the ashtray up in my left hand and transfigured it into a small, white bird. I quickly but gently clasped my hands around the bird, refusing to let it fly away. It squeaked quietly and nipped at my fingers.

“I’m sorry,” I hummed to the small animal. “Could you open the door for me, Liz?” Silently, she stood up and opened the door to the cabinet, shutting it after I placed the bird inside. It began to flap around and squawk, obviously not pleased with being trapped.

Liz and I stood there for a few moments watching the cabinet before it gave it’s telltale noise, signalling to the bird’s movement from this cabinet to the other. I began to count in my head.

One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… 

When I reached twenty-seven, the cabinet sounded again, and with a glance at Liz, I opened the door. Inside, the white bird was lying in an unmoving heap, a golden ribbon tied around the neck. Lizzie gave a choked gasp beside me and kneeled down. She ever-so-gently picked the bird up and ran a finger down its lifeless back. As a tear ran down her cheek, she passed her hand over the bird and wandlessly transformed it back into an ashtray. 

I wrapped my arms around her after she placed it on a nearby table. She brought her hands up and held them in front of her chest, as if she were holding her heart. Slowly, she slid to the floor, dragging me with her.

“We’re going to have to let them in soon,” she muttered as if she were holding in her tears. 

“Yeah,” I replied quietly, not wanting to admit it, but not wanting to lie to her.

“A week from today,” she said suddenly, reaching out and placing her hands on either side of my face as if she knew something I didn’t. “Promise me. One week from today we do it. I want this over with.”

I was surprised by her insisting, but I agreed. “One week.”

One week. Seven days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds. That’s how long we had until the Dark Lord had Hogwarts or until Lizzie and I would die.

\-----

Lizzie’s POV:

After I left the Room of Requirement, I told Draco I had to use the loo and I would meet him in the common room, when in reality I took off to the Gryffindor common room.

“Those don’t look like Gryffindor robes,” the Fat Lady drawled, almost disgusted at the fact I had the nerve to show up there.

“I need to speak with Hermione Granger,” I panted. “Is she inside?” 

“If you can’t tell, the back of this painting is not transparent. I cannot tell if Miss Granger is inside.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’s very important. Do you know where I can find her?” I practically begged the woman to listen to me, but she dismissed me with a wave of her hands.

“I do not. Now, hurry along.” I gave a frustrated squeal and stomped my feet. Upon turning around intending to look for Hermione in the library, I found a small second year looking up to me. Her bright hazel eyes blinked at me in question. She obviously noticed that my tie was green instead of red.

“Hi!” I greeted her, over excited by the new chance to find Hermione. She jumped at my excitement but continued to watch me. “Could you do me a favor please?” The girl narrowed her eyes and said nothing. “I need to find Hermione Granger. If you see her inside, could you send her out? Tell her Lizzie needs to see her.”

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and popped her knee. “Why should I help a Slytherin?” 

I wanted to throttle her right here and now for that. “Please. It’s very important,” I urged her. She must have noticed my desperateness, for her eyes softened and she uncrossed her arms.

“Alright,” she agreed, her eyes still narrowed. “But if she’s not in there, I’m not coming back out to tell you she isn’t.”

“Deal,” I agreed quickly.

The girl nodded and disappeared through the portrait behind me. I noticed the password was ‘Niffler gold’. I began to pace, feeling the Fat Lady’s eyes on me. 

Right as I was about to leave it had been so long, the portrait opened and my bushy haired confidante appeared, looking semi-guilty.

“Hermione!” I squeaked.

“Hello, Liz,” she smiled, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

“Could we find a place to talk?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

“Sure,” she replied, sensing the seriousness. She lead me away from the Gryffindor tower and into an abandoned classroom, caked in dust. With disgusted face, Hermione sealed the room up and turned to me with an expectant yet nervous expression.

“First of all, I need you to promise me that this conversation will stay between you and me. You will warn Harry and Ron and anyone else without flat out telling them what is going to happen,” I began, looking at my feet, which were smudged with dust.

“To an extent, I promise,” she agreed with a nod.

“What do you mean?” I quirked my head, suddenly second thinking my choice to talk to her.

“If this is serious enough, I have to tell someone.”

“Oh.” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“What is it, Lizzie?”

“One week,” I muttered, not taking my eyes off of the toes of my shoes. 

“One week?” she repeated.

“One week until we do it.” I lifted my head and met her brown eyes. I felt tears pricking my eyes. If I didn’t get this out now, I wouldn’t and I needed to warn Hermione. “One week until we let the Death Eaters into the castle and kill Dumbledore. Just thought you should know.” Having gotten the words from my mouth, I rushed from the room with a quick unlocking spell. Tears were spilling down my cheeks fluidly now. My feet slapped the ground as I ran. I didn’t know where I was going; I just was going. 

Why had life become so hard for me? What did I do that made me deserve this life?


	30. Chapter 30

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Lizzie, who wanted nothing more than to grow up and be like her older brother, Grayson, who was a wizard. He had magical powers like those in the stories she was constantly reading. He had a wand made from unicorn hair that allowed him to cast spells. He could levitate books, transform goblets into mice, and light up the darkest of rooms with a flick of his wand.

Lizzie sat in her bedroom with a twig, flicking it at a book and willing it to change into a cat.

“Abracadabra!” she exclaimed, swirling the twig in elaborate circles. “Into a cat!” Despite her best efforts, the book stubbornly refused to transfigure into a cat, as she wished it to. “Oh, nards!” She huffed and threw her twig of a wand towards the wall.

As the twig bounced off of the wall, where it left a small indent, Lizzie heard a quiet giggle from the other side of her bedroom door. “Mum!” she screeched.

And with the turn of the door handle, Lizzie’s mum, Ella, a non-magical woman, appeared in the doorway. She was a beautiful woman. She was petite in build, with narrow shoulders and a short torso. But she was beautiful.

“Sorry, Bitsy, you’re too cute,” Lizzie’s mum smiled.

“My name isn’t Bitsy!” Lizzie protested, still upset from her magical failure. 

“You will always be my little Bitsy,” the woman replied.

“I am eight years old, mum! I’m not your ‘little Bitsy’!”

“To each his own,” her mum gave a knowing smile. Lizzie huffed once more and folded her arms with a frown. “Oh, what’s wrong, love?” Ella asked, walking into the room and sitting beside LIzzie on her bed. 

“I’m not a wizard, mum,” Lizzie pouted.

“You’re right,” Ella said. “You’re not a wizard. You are a witch.” She poked Lizzie’s nose at that.

“Witch, wizard. Same thing,” the little girl puffed.

“I beg to differ. A witch is a female with magical powers, a wizard is a male with magical powers. Males and females are quite different, my dear, but that is a talk for another time.”

“That’s not the point, mum!” Lizzie threw her arms into the air, exasperated. “I’m not magical! I won’t be allowed to Hogwarts like Gray. I’ll have to stay here and go to a boring, old, non-magical secondary school.”

“Elizabeth Alexandra May Samuels,” Ella spoke each name with certainty as she picked the little girl up and placed her in her own lap. “You are a witch, through and through. You will go to Hogwarts and become a witch unlike your brother could ever dream of becoming. You will have a power that your brother may never come to possess. You will live to see the day the world ends and the day it will begin again.”

“The world is not going to end, mum.” Lizzie rolled her eyes and re-folded her arms.

“That’s not all.” Ella smirked at her daughter as if she knew something Lizzie didn’t. “The end of the world will be your doing-”

“Thanks,” Lizzie deadpanned sarcastically. “I feel so much better.”

“You didn’t let me finish. The end of the world will be your doing, but so will its beginning.”

“How do you know?” Lizzie scrunched her nose and gave her mother an odd look.

“I just do,” Ella whispered. “One day, you will be tasked with a horrible job that will seem nearly impossible, and you will spend months dreading its arrival, but when the time for it to be followed through with comes, you will have someone by your side to make it seem not-so-horrible.”

“Who will that be?” Lizzie asked, her anger now forgotten.

“You’ll know when the time is right.” Ella gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “This task will bring about the beginning of the end of the world, however, it will not be by your hand.”

“Well, then the end of the world won’t truly be my fault like you said.”

Instead of answering, Ella gave another knowing smile. “The day the world is to begin again, a friend will come to realize their part in this beginning, and it will break your heart. Yet, it will mend, and you will make the choice that saves the world.”

“What choice?”

“Hush, little one. This choice will be dangerous. It will make your heart beat at speeds unimaginable, but, in the end, you will be the savior.”

“A savior,” Lizzie repeated quietly.

“A savior indeed.” Ella smiled. “But to become this savior, you will need to realize your powers, and you can’t do that without going to Hogwarts. I promise you, my little Bitsy, you will go to Hogwarts.”


	31. Chapter 31

Draco’s POV:

One of the most terrifying aspects of a person's life is the inevitable, unstoppable marching of time. Time moves on no matter what. Death is progressing closer and closer every second and there is nothing anyone can do to stop this inevitability. 

But when will death finally come? Will it be in 86 years? 2 years? 3 days? 15 minutes? 

Time marched on as Liz and I dreaded the approaching death. Would it be us or Dumbledore? We both spent time sitting around and staring at something - anything - begging time to stop, if not for a little while. 

The week stomped by. Day by day, minute by minute, second by second until the day was upon us like a tidal wave. Suddenly we were drowning in horror and anticipation. Our lungs were being filled with the suffocating suddenness of the event and before we knew it, we were walking down the seventh floor corridor, our hands clasped tightly together.

My eyes were fixed on the span of wall that would open to the Room of Requirement as the portraits passed in a slow blur. Beside me, Lizzie was chewing on her lip, which had become bloodier and bloodier over the last week. 

When we entered the room, we both inhaled sharply. The air inside was significantly colder than normal despite the warm weather outside the castle. I guess worldly factors don’t affect magical rooms like this.

“‘S cold,” Liz mumbled. I nodded in agreement and dragged my feet towards the Vanishing Cabinet, where the cold temperature felt to be radiating from. It seemed to be looming over us more than ever. We both took a seat on the sofa to wait.

I had owled Borgin about a week ago to let him know of our plan before owling my mother and father as well. Borgin had owled back almost immediately and told me that he would be ready, giving me his best wishes. Father had taken longer to respond, almost four days to be exact. He told me that the Dark Lord was pleased with our work and would be sending his best into the castle to lead the battle. Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Thorfinn Rowle, and Corbin Yaxley. 

Lizzie knew that her father would be there, but she was still nervous as hell. She despised her father for all that she was being forced to do. She was also so nervous because the fate of her mother was resting upon what would happen tonight. If Liz and I succeeded, she would be set free. If we failed, we would all be killed.

She hardly ever spoke of her mother, and if anyone mentioned anything about mothers, she would start to chew on her lip and look down. It broke my heart to see her so fragile and yet so strong at the same time.

I tried to slow time by studying the items that surrounded us, but we had spent so much time in here that I knew it by heart. Directly to the right of the Vanishing Cabinet, the makeshift path that had been made over the years continued on, and to the left was a very large, and very tall pile of books. Liz had attempted to dig through it a few times, looking for something that might help us, but stopped due to the teetering. If one book fell they all would and they would, unfortunately, probably fall on us.

To my left, beside the sofa that Liz and I were sitting on, was a small, circular table that wobbled precariously when touched. A long and jagged crack ran down one of the legs, splinters sticking out at odd angles and threatening to impale anything that came in contact. On top of the table was the marble ashtray that we had used to test the cabinet the week before.

Click

Lizzie and I both leapt to our feet, our wands in hand, when the cabinet gave its telltale key-noise. Silence followed the click, making me wonder if we had done something wrong, but before I voiced my worries, the door creaked open. A pale set of knobbly fingers appeared around the edge of the door, gently pushing it open. 

“Oh, how great it is to finally be back,” a voice cackled as a figure stepped out of the cabinet. It was my dear Aunt Bellatrix, dressed in her usual black garb, her long, black hair resting wherever it wanted to.

Lizzie took a step closer to me so our arms touched. “Dear me,” she smirked. “Where are my manners? Bellatrix Lestrange.” She held one of her hands out to Lizzie, expecting her to shake it, but Liz only flinced. The woman cackled again at Liz’s reaction. 

“Where are the others?” I asked quickly before Bellatrix could scare Liz anymore.

With a pout, Bellatrix replied, “There was only room for one at a time. The Dark Lord saw it fit to send me first.” She drew her wand and looked around at our surroundings. “I think I’ll just get started.” She gave a wicked smile and cast a directional spell to lead her out of the room.

“No killing!” I called after her, desperate that no one get hurt. She replied with a tut-tut of her tongue.

Liz turned to me and gave a terrified look, her eyebrows knit together and her jaw clenched tightly. “I know,” I sighed, wrapping my arms around her, but pulling away quickly when the cabinet gave another click. Fenrir Greyback hopped out of the cabinet and gave us a wickedly toothy smile.

“So here we are,” he growled, studying me and Liz, his eyes lingering on Liz hungrily.

“Here we are,” I repeated with a stony expression. “Run along now.”

“And miss all of the fun?” he replied evilly as he took a few steps towards us. Lizzie flinched and stepped closer to me.

“You have a job to do, Greyback. Go do it,” I sneered. 

“But look at this beauty,” Greyback snarled, stepping uncomfortably close to Lizzie.

“Leave,” I snapped, putting my arm around Lizzie’s shoulder. “Before I curse you into next year.” Instead of replying, Greyback gave a simple growl and took off in a jog in the same direction that Bellatrix had.

Lizzie was trembling beside me, so I tightened my grip around her shoulders as we waited in silence for the next arrival.

Following Fenrir Greyback came Alecto and Amycus Carrow. They took off without a word. Rowle came next, giving Liz and I a curt nod and asking for directions to the door. 

After Rowle left us in the clearing, Liz and I both knew who was to be crawling out of the cabinet next: Corbin Yaxley, Lizzie’s scumbag father.

“Liz,” I began, turning to her, “If you want to go around the corner or something, I can handle Yaxley on my own, so you don’t have to.”

She began to shake her head. “No,” she murmured. “No, we’re in this together.”

I placed my hand on her cheek and she leaned into it, placing her hand on top of mine. “Are you sure?” I asked.

“Positive,” she whispered as the cabinet clicked once more.

“Votre chagrin est mon chagrin,” I said into her ear.

Cobin Yaxley stepped out of the cabinet and looked to the ceiling, breathing in deeply. “Oh, how wonderful it is to be back in this prison.” He dropped his head and stared at Lizzie, who was staring back, steely. “Of course, it won’t be a prison for much longer, my dear.”

“I am not your dear,” Lizzie said slowly in return. Her voice was full of venom. So much so that I almost expected Yaxley to drop dead in front of us. 

The man cackled and left towards the door, leaving us standing alone in the clearing of rubbish in the Room Where Everything is Hidden.

“What now?” Lizzie mumbled, looking at her shoes with a pathetic expression. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered with a shake of my head.

She lifted her eyes and cocked her head slightly. “Sorry for what?”

“For this.” I pulled my wand from my pocket and pointed it at her, faster than light. “Petrificus Totalus.” Her body straightened and began to fall backwards. Had I not caught her, she would have struck her head on the floor. I lifted her up and set her down on the sofa, tucking her hair behind her ears. Her eyes stared at me. “I’m sorry. I can’t let you taint your soul because of something I dragged you into.” I kissed her forehead and walked out of the room with a tear rolling down my cheek.


	32. Chapter 32

Draco’s POV:

My feet led me through the castle, somehow knowing exactly where to go. I knew what I was to do. I knew exactly how to lure Dumbledore into my trap.

The clicking of my shoes on the stone stairs echoed through the corridor, my wand clenched tightly in my hand. I was about to do the unforgivable and my head hurt thinking about it, but I could justify it by telling myself that I was doing it so Lizzie didn’t have to.

At the top of the stairs, I walked to the railing and looked out into the night sky. My eyes automatically found my constellation. Draco, the dragon, snaked across the sky. “I’m sorry,” I said to no one in particular before lifting my wand and pointing it to the sky. “Morsmordre.” Once this new snake began to snake its way across the sky, I took a deep breath and walked down a few steps, just out of view.

I knew Dumbledore wasn’t in the castle. Everyone knew. He had taken Potter out somewhere. And once he saw the Dark Mark above the astronomy tower, he would apparate here in a heartbeat. Right into my trap.

It was a few minutes before I heard the tell tale crack of apparation and two pairs of feet on the stones of the ground above me.

“What does it mean?” a familiar voice asked. “Is it the real Mark? Has someone definitely been - Professor?” I cursed under my breath. I should have seen it coming. Dumbledore had taken Potter out. I should have known Dumbledore would have brought Potter here.

I heard Dumbledore mutter something and Harry begin to argue before Dumbledore cut him off. Potter’s light footsteps walked towards the stairs and I began to panic. I stomped on the stair I was standing on, making it seem as if I was running up the stairs before throwing the door open and shouting “Expelliarmus!”, my wand pointed at Dumbledore. His wand flew over the side of the astronomy tower, plummeting to the ground below.

The old man was standing alone under the stars, leaning against the rampart railing, white in the face as if whatever he and Potter had done tonight had almost killed him. “Good evening, Draco,” he mumbled from the corner of his mouth. He winced from this simple task.

I took a step forward towards the man, my wand not wavering from its target. I looked around the two of us. Potter was nowhere to be seen, but I was sure I had heard his voice. “Who else is here?”

“A question I might ask you,” the old man countered easily and calmly, avoiding my question. “Or are you acting alone?” I clenched my jaw. I wouldn’t let him know of Lizzie. She was not going to take this fall.

“No,” I answered. “There are others. Death eaters are here in your castle tonight.” I shifted my grasp on my wand, my knuckles stiff from my tight grip.

“Well, well,” the old man drawled. He seemed pained. “Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?”

“Yeah,” I panted. “Right under your nose and you never realized.” My heart was going a million miles a minute.

“Ingenious. Yet… Forgive me… Where are they now? You seem unsupported.”

“I’d imagine they met some of your guard. They’re having a battle below. Can’t you hear it?” I paused to allow the sounds of the battle I had only just realized was raging at the bottom of the stairs to reach our ears. “They won’t be long. I came on ahead. We have a job to do.”

“We?” Dumbledore questioned cautiously. I cursed myself.

“I. I have a job to do.” The old man raised an eyebrow but didn’t press any further. 

“Well then. You must go on and do it, my dear boy.” 

I did nothing but stare at the old man. He knew what I was to do. I didn’t know how he knew but he did, and here he was, inviting me to kill him.

And then he did something incredible. He smiled.

“You are not a killer, Draco,” Dumbledore said softly.

“How do you know?” I snapped. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. You don’t know what I’ve done!”

“Oh yes I do,” he spoke with a nod of his head. “You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts. So feeble that I wonder if your heart is really in it.”

“It has been in it!” I sneered. “I’ve been working on it all year and now tonight…” I trailed off as someone let out a yelp below us. I stiffened and looked over my shoulder at the stairs, expecting someone to come racing up the stairs to stop me. 

“Who are you protecting, Draco?” the old man asked, drawing my gaze back to him. “You mentioned that you have a partner in this matter. Where are they? Who are they?”

“It’s me,” a voice spoke vehemently behind me. “He’s trying to protect me.” Lizzie walked up beside me, her eyes and wand pointed at Dumbledore. 

“Ah, Miss Samuels. I should have known.”

“What are you doing here?” I hissed. 

“We’re in this together, Draco,” she snapped. 

“Bloody hell, Lizzie! Go help them downstairs! You can’t be up here!” I tried to get rid of her. I didn’t want her to see what I was about to do.

“No,” she spoke forcefully. “I’m not leaving. We brought the others here together, we finish this together.” I growled in frustration, knowing that she wasn’t going anywhere soon.

“Ah yes, you have managed to introduce the other Death Eaters into my school, which, I admit, I thought was impossible. How did you do it?” Dumbledore asked easily.

Neither Lizzie or I answered his question as louder and seemingly more violent sounds from the battle below wafted up the stairs.

“Perhaps you ought to get the job done alone,” Dumbledore offered. “What if your backup has been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps realised, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight, too. And after all, you don't really need help… I have no wand at the moment… I cannot defend myself.” 

Once again, Lizzie and I stared at the man, saying nothing. 

“I see,” Dumbledore nodded. “You are afraid.”

“I am not afraid!” I snapped. “It’s you who should be scared!”

“But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe… so tell me, while we wait for your friends… how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it.”

“We had to mend the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement,” Lizzie spoke simply, as if it had not taken us almost a year to finish. 

“Ahhhh,” Dumbledore’s sigh was mostly a groan. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if something were paining him. “That was clever. There is a pair, I assume?”

“The other’s in Borgin and Burke’s,” Lizzie offered when I didn’t speak. I snapped my head in her direction. “They make a sort of passage.”

“Very good,” murmured Dumbledore. “So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you… a clever plan, a very clever plan… and, as you say, right under my nose…”

“Yeah, it was!” I said stiffly.

“But there were times,” Dumbledore went on, “weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the Cabinet? And you resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands… poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink…”

“Yeah, well, you still didn't realise who was behind that stuff, did you?” I sniggered, as Dumbledore slid a little down the ramparts, the strength in his legs apparently fading. What had he and Potter done tonight?

“As a matter of fact, I did,” said Dumbledore. “I was sure it was you. Though I wasn’t aware you had a partner.” His eyes flickered over to Lizzie, who clenched her jaw.

“Why didn't you stop me, then?” I demanded.

“I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders -”

“He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised my mother -”

“Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but -”

“He's a double-agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!”

“We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape -”

“Well, you're losing your grip, then!” I sneered. 

“Very gratifying,” said Dumbledore mildly. “We all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course… but you must have had an accomplice, other than Miss Samuels of course, all the same… someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to slip Katie the - the - aaaah.” Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as though he was about to fall asleep. “...of course… Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperius Curse?”

“Got there at last?” I taunted, as someone - a girl - screamed from below, the sound echoing in my ears and making me flinch. 

“There is little time,” Dumbledore whispered. “Let us discuss your options.”

“Our options?” Lizzie squeaked. “Our options? We haven’t got any options!” 

“We’re standing here with our wands pointed at you. We’re going to kill you,” I said shakily.

“My dear boy, let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first Disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means.”

“We haven’t got any options!” Lizzie said sharply, her face suddenly white as the moon. “We’ve got to do it! We’ve got to kill you! Or he’ll kill us all…”

“I appreciate the difficulty of your position,” said Dumbledore. “Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realised that I suspected you.”

Lizzie flinched at the use of the Dark Lord’s name.

“I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you,” continued Dumbledore. “But now at last we can speak plainly to each other… no harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived… I can help you, Draco, Lizzie.”

“No, you can’t,” Lizzie said, her wand arm shaking violently. “Nobody can. He’s got my mum. He’ll kill her. We’ve got no choice.”

“Come over to the right side, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight, Draco, to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban… when the time comes we can protect him too… and Lizzie, we can send a mission to rescue your mother. Come over to the right side… you are not a killers…”

I stared at Dumbledore. Could he really save our families?

“But we got this far, didn't we?” I said slowly. “They thought we'd die in the attempt, but we’re here… and you're in our power… we’re the ones with the wands… you're at our mercy…”

“No, Draco,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.”

I dropped my wand a fraction, and saw Lizzie waver as well from the corner of my eye. 

Then suddenly footsteps were thundering up the stairs and a second later four people in dark robes appeared, their wands drawn. It seemed as though the Death Eaters had won the battle below.

“Dumbledore cornered! Dumbledore wandless! Well done, Draco! Well done, Lizzie!” Amycus Carrow cackled behind me. 

“Good evening, Amycus,” Dumbledore said calmly. “And you’ve brought Alecto too… Charming…”

Alecto gave an angry little titter. “Think your little jokes’ll help you on your deathbed then, old man?”

“Jokes? No, no, these are manners,” Dumbledore replied.

“Do it,” Greyback growled beside me, his breath overwhelming me. I could smell a powerful mixture of dirt, sweat, and, unmistakably, of blood coming from him. His filthy hands had long yellowish nails.

“Is that you, Fenrir?” Dumbledore asked.

“That’s right,” the werewolf rasped. “Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?”

“No, I cannot say that I am…” Dumbledore replied.

Fenrir Greyback grinned, showing pointed teeth. Blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, obscenely.

“But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore.”

“Am I to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon now? This is most unusual… you have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?”

“That's right,” said Greyback. “Shocks you, that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?”

“Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little,” said Dumbledore, who crinkled his nose ever so slightly. “And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live…” His eyes flickered to Lizzie beside me.

“I didn’t,” I breathed, feeling the need to defend myself. “I didn’t know he would be coming.” 

“I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore,” rasped Greyback. “Not when there are throats to be ripped out… delicious, delicious…” And he raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore.

“I could do you for afters, Dumbledore…”

“No,” said Yaxley sharply, making Lizzie flinch. “We've got orders. They’ve got to do it. Now, and quickly.”

But at that moment, there were renewed sounds of scuffling from below and a voice shouted, “They've blocked the stairs - Reducto! REDUCTO!”

“Quickly!” Yaxley hissed. My hand was shaking so violently that I could hardly aim it, and Lizzie was beyond reluctant to cast any curse, let alone the Killing Curse.

“I’ll do it,” snarled Greyback, moving towards Dumbledore with his hands outstretched, his teeth bared.

“I said no!” shouted Yaxley; there was a flash of light and the werewolf was blasted out of the way; he hit the ramparts and staggered, looking furious.

“Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us -” screeched Bellatrix, but at that precise moment the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewolf, and me and Lizzie.

“We've got a problem, Snape,” said the lumpy Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore, “the boy doesn't seem able -”

But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly.

“Severus…”

I never thought Dumbledore would be one for begging, but here he was, standing before me, clutching his chest and staring at Snape with pleading eyes.

Snape said nothing, but walked forwards and pushed me roughly out of the way, into Lizzie. I turned and caught her easily before she hit the floor. The other three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed cowed.

Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.

“Severus... please..." Dumbledore tried one last time to beg for mercy.

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. “Avada Kedavra!”

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. My eyes widened in horror as I watched Albus Dumbledore was blasted backwards where he seemed to hang suspended in the air for a moment, until he fell back, over the railing and fell from sight.


	33. Chapter 33

Lizzie’s POV:

I choked back a sob as I watched my headmaster’s body tumble from the astronomy tower. This couldn’t have happened… This wasn’t happening… Dumbledore… dead? 

Dumbledore had always been an unmoveable, unwavering, unkillable force in my life and now he was dead. Two simple words ended his life.

This was it. This had to be the end of the world that my mum always spoke of. The one that would be my fault but not by my hand. I had allowed the Death Eaters into the castle, but Snape had been the one to cast the spell. With Dumbledore dead, there was no one to oppose Voldemort as he took over the world.

I felt numb. Completely numb. I wanted to scream and to cry and curse everything in my sight because Dumbledore was dead, but I was numb. I could hardly feel my hands.

“Out of here, quickly,” Snape said, grabbing both Draco and me by the scruff of our necks. He forced us through the door and from the astronomy tower ahead of the rest of the Death Eaters, who stuck around a bit longer to look over the side of the tower at what I would assume was Dumbledore’s dead body.

Oh, Merlin.

The image of Dumbledore’s crumpled body lying in the courtyard, unmoving and bloody, filled my head. His white beard stained with red splashes of blood and his crescent shaped glasses lying feet away from him. His limbs sticking out at unnatural angles. My knees buckled, but Snape’s grip on me held me up. “Keep moving,” he grumbled.

“Petrificus Totalus!” a familiar voice yelled from behind me, followed by a thud, indicating that someone had been paralyzed. 

I attempted to turn my head to see who had been hit, but Snape’s grip on me was too tight. “Harry?” I managed to squeak, my voice strained and hoarse.

“I… I think so…” Draco replied slowly, obviously in shock. His hair glowed white in the dim moonlight as Snape forced us down the stairs faster, making me trip and stumble. It was a wonder I hadn’t landed on my face several times over.

The corridor at the bottom of the stairs was a disaster zone. It was dimly lit and full of dust. Half of the ceiling seemed to have caved in and the walls were black with missed spells and red with blood. Opposite of the stairway that the three of us had just exited, was a group of people surrounding a body on the ground. The Order of the Phoenix. Molly, Ginny, and Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, a woman with bubblegum pink hair, Remus Lupin, and Fleur Delacour among them. 

Mad Eye Moody turned his wand on us quickly, sensing we were enemies, and sent a well-aimed spell soaring over Snape’s shoulder. The Death Eaters that trailed us began casting their own spells, the battle raging on once again. More Death Eaters rounded the far corner, coming to help. 

Snape’s grip on my neck didn’t loosen, it tightened as he led us away from the battle.

“It’s over! Time to go!” he shouted over the noise. He forced us around the corner and hurried us down flight after flight of stairs, occasionally urging us to hurry up. And before I was aware of what was happening, we were rushing down the front stairs of the castle. “Quickly, now,” Snape huffed behind us, pressing us to move faster. We were running across the courtyard and towards the gates now. In a few seconds, we would be gone from Hogwarts, probably forever. 

The night air ripped at my lungs as we hurried past Hagrid’s hut. The giant man, who was in his garden gawking up at the green snake above the astronomy tower, picked up a pink umbrella and began to throw spells at us. One hit Draco’s left side and made him double over, retching. Snape finally let go of our necks and stepped between us and our attacker, countering each spell with ease. 

“Hagrid,” Snape hissed. “Stop this foolishness!” I stood, still in shock, watching the two dueling and Draco heaving beside me, my body shaking violently.

“What’ve you done?” Hagrid growled. “WHAT’VE YOU DONE?” 

Snape didn’t cast any spells, only blocked what Hagrid cast, which seemed limited to simple disarming and stunning spells. The greasy-haired man was reluctant to attack Hagrid despite everything that had happened tonight.

“Go!” Amycus shouted at Snape, Draco, and me, appearing from nowhere along with Bellatrix and Amycus and taking over the duel for Snape. “Get away from here!” Snape once again gripped our necks and forced us to run towards the gates. We were close now.

“Stupefy!” Harry yelled from a distance behind us, a red jet of light narrowly missing Snape’s head. He ducked and spun around drawing his wand with a growl.

“Run!” Snape shouted at us. So we did. Snape stayed behind to duel Harry while Draco and I continued to sprint towards the gates. The sounds of shouting and the impact of spells filled my ears along with my panting and the pounding of my heart. 

We hurtled past the gates and Draco took my hand, apparating us away from Hogwarts without a backwards glance.

When the world stopped spinning, I realized where we were. We were on the front steps of Malfoy Manor. Without letting go of my hand, Draco opened the door and led me inside his home. The familiarity of it calmed me slightly, but the knowledge of who might lurk inside made my lungs constrict.

“Draco? Lizzie?” Narcissa called from her seat in the Malfoy sitting room. She set her book down and rushed over to us. “What’s happened? Why are you here?” She placed a chilly hand on either of our cheeks.

“It’s done,” Draco said simply. “Dumbledore. He’s - he’s dead.” Narcissa’s worried expression softened and then hardened. 

“The Dark Lord will want to know. Why don’t you two sit down here. I’ll take care of it.” She walked us over to a black, leather sofa that reminded me of the one in the Slytherin common room, where we sat down, before leaving the room. 

I pulled my feet up onto the sofa and tucked them under me, leaning onto Draco, who wrapped his arms around me. We said nothing as we sat there together. The only sound was that of the crackling fire in the mantle.

When Narcissa entered the room, her expression was unreadable. “The Dark Lord is pleased with your work and would like to see you.”

“Now?” Draco asked.

“Yes,” Narcissa gritted. My stomach dropped into my shoes. Not only had I watched as my headmaster was murdered, but now I had to speak to Voldemort about it. Both Draco and I knew that we couldn’t argue with Voldemort, no matter how much we didn’t want to speak to the man.

Draco stood and offered me his hand, which I accepted. We were both shaking terribly.

“He’s in your father’s study, Draco,” Narcissa whispered, obviously worried for her son.

“Draco, Lizzie,” the snake drawled as we entered Lucius’ study, the door clicking shut behind us. “Well done, well done indeed.” His yellow smile flashed at us in the fire light. “I would like to congratulate you on a job well done. You have completed an impossible deed, one that, I admit, I did not think you would live through.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Draco mumbled. Voldemort cackled, throwing his head back at Draco’s words.

“My mum,” I blurted, drawing an abrupt end to his laughing.

“What did you say?” Voldemort’s eyes flashed dangerously at me, and I saw Draco’s head snap towards me, but I was done playing this man’s games.

“My mother. You promised you would give her back when we finished this.” 

“Did I?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked evilly at me. 

“You did,” I said defiantly. 

He said nothing. Simply closed his eyes and before I could wonder what he was doing, my mum was lying in a crumpled head at his feet. “Congratulations on completing your task,” he hissed before he apparated out of the room.

A sob forced its way from my throat as I rushed towards my mum. “Mum!” I cried as I kneeled beside her and took her head in my lap. “Mum, wake up. It’s me. It’s Lizzie.” 

“Bitsy?” she whispered, lifting her head ever so slightly and cracking her eyes open. She was so weak that this small strain caused her deep pain; I could see it in her eyes.

“Yes, it’s me,” I sobbed. Her hair was a tangled mess and wasn’t as shiny and bright as it used to be. She had lost so much weight it was like I was holding a sack of bones. Her skin, which had once glowed with a healthy tan, was now whiter than I thought was possible.

“So cold,” she mumbled, curling herself into a ball with chattering teeth. Gooseflesh erupted along her exposed arms and legs.

“Draco,” I turned to the boy with crazed eyes. “Help me get her to a guest bedroom, please.”

“Of course,” he hurried forwards and picked my mum up. I lept up and held the door open for the two of them. 

When we neared the stairs, we met Narcissa. “How did it go? Who is that?” she asked.

“You go get her warmed up, I’ll explain,” I told Draco, who nodded and hurried up the stairs.

“Mrs. Malfoy,” I began. “Over the Christmas holidays, the Dark Lord kidnapped my mother as a warning to me. He told me that if Draco and I didn’t finish our task, he would kill her, but if we did finish it, he would give her back. He kept her locked up all this time.”

“Oh, my dear girl,” Narcissa choked, bringing her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry. Please, is there anything I can do?”

“If it’s alright with you, I would like my mother to stay here overnight.”

“Yes, she is welcome here just as you are. Our home is your home.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Malfoy. Really,” I thanked her from the bottom of my heart.

“You’re welcome, dear. Now, hurry along! I’ll send a house elf up with some food and tea.”

“Thank you!” I repeated already hurrying up the stairs. I skipped up the stairs three at a time so that by the time I reached the room where Draco had taken my mum, I was panting.

My fragile mother was lying on the four-poster bed, buried in blankets. Draco sat in a chair beside the bed but leapt to his feet when he say me. 

“Your mum is sending up a house elf,” I explained as I walked cautiously towards the bed. 

“Wonderful,” he replied quietly. “I’ll go wait in the hallway. Call me if you need me.”

“Thank you, Draco,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck and breathing in his peppermint scent. 

“You are very welcome,” he said.

When he left the room, I walked forward and studied my mum’s face. Her once full and rosy cheeks were hollow and transparent. Blue and purple spots peppered her face as if she had been beaten recently. There was a cut above her right eyebrow that made my stomach clench.

“I’m so sorry, mum. I’m going to fix this,” I mumbled, sitting in the chair beside her bed.


	34. Chapter 34

Lizzie’s POV:

When I woke up the next morning, my face was creased with the lines of the duvet and the sun that was shining through the window was blinding me. I brought my hand up to shield my face as I stood up and crossed the room to pull the curtains shut. 

Last night, I hadn’t had half the mind to observe the room that Draco had chosen for my mum, seeing as I was too preoccupied with caring for her, but now I had time to look around. It was very similar in structure to the bedroom that I stayed in when I stayed at Malfoy Manor, but the coloring was different. Where my room’s walls were cream, this room’s walls were a light grey. Where my bedroom’s blankets were emerald green, this room’s were a dark blue-grey. 

My fragile mother was wrapped up in these blankets, looking like a caterpillar in a cocoon. She had become so skinny over the few months that she had been locked up that I feared she would never gain that muscle back. She had been my rock for years, always there for me to lean on when I needed her, but now I had to be hers.

I walked back over to the bed and placed a hand on my mum’s forehead. She had finally warmed up. Now for the weight problem…

“Winny,” I stated clearly and loudly, bracing myself for the apparation. The small house elf apparated into the room within seconds, curtseying low to the ground. “Hello, Winny,” I smiled. 

“Hello, Miss Lizzie,” she squeaked back with a tentative smile.

“My mother here is very sick. She’s lost a great deal of weight over the last few months and I would appreciate it if you could bring up a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of water.” 

“Winny would be happy to help Miss Lizzie and Miss Lizzie’s mother. Winny will be back with Miss Lizzie’s mother’s sandwich and water,” Winny chirped.

“Thank you very much, Winny.” The house elf gave a quick nod of her head before apparating from the room with a snap of her fingers. I sat back down in the chair that I had slept in and placed a hand on my mum’s shoulder. “Mum,” I said quietly, trying to shake the woman from her slumber. “Mum, time to wake up.”

“Wha-” she croaked, barely lifting her eyelids. 

“I have a house elf coming up with a sandwich, do you think you can sit up a little?” She gave a miniscule tip of her head, and I slipped my hands under her neck and back, supporting her as she attempted to sit up. Her vertebrae poked into my hand.

“Winny is back with Miss Lizzie’s mother’s sandwich and water,” the house elf squeaked after she apparated into the bedroom, making my mum flinch.

“Thank you, Winny. Could you bring it here, please?” I pat the empty area on the blanket beside me, where Winny placed the small platter with a sandwich on it. She handed me the glass of water before she gave another curtsey and apparated from the room.

“What was that?” my mum murmured so quietly I had to bring my ear closer to her mouth to hear her.

“That was a creature called a house elf. Wizards use them like servants in their home,” I explained. “Now, I had Winny, the house elf, bring you a peanut butter sandwich, do you think you could eat some of it?” Mum nodded, so I brought the sandwich. She took a small bite and chewed for quite a while. 

I continued to feed her bites of the sandwich until she protested. She had managed to finish almost half of it. I placed the sandwich back on the platter and moved it to the night table. “I have some water too, would you like a drink?”

“Yes,” she begged. 

I realized as I helped her drink how little food and water she must have had over the last few months. Obviously her captors fed and watered her enough to keep her alive but not enough to keep her healthy. Humans can only survive about three days without water and about three weeks without food. She looked like she had only been fed about that much.

“You go back to sleep,” I told her in a whisper when she had finished drinking. “I’m going to see if I can find some potions to help you heal.” She gave no answer, simply closed her eyes. I kissed her forehead and left the room silently.

Draco answered almost immediately when I knocked on his bedroom door. “How is she?” he asked, worry lacing his words.

“She’s doing better. I got her to eat and drink some,” I explained.

“That’s wonderful.”

“I was wondering if I could use your supply of potions and potion ingredients?” I asked carefully.

“Of course,” he replied, stepping out of his bedroom. “I’ll show you to the brewing room.”

“You have a brewing room?” 

“Yeah, I guess that’s kind of odd,” he frowned. “I just never thought about it before.” 

Draco led me back to the main floor and through to the back of the house where the brewing room was. It was a dark room, with only eerie, green torches to light it up. The walls were lined with bookshelves. Two of which were filled with books, the others were filled with vials of potions and potion ingredients.

“Whoa,” I muttered. In the center of the room stood a table with three pewter cauldrons on it: a large, a medium, and a small. 

“You’re welcome to use anything in this room and I’m glad to help in any way possible,” Draco said taking a seat in a deep red chair in the corner.

“Thank you,” I said as I browsed the books on the shelves.

Pretty Potions and Their Uses

Dark Potions for the Dark Wizard or Witch

The Book of Poisons and Potions

Healing Potions

Poisonous Poisons and Their Counter Potions

I picked up the book titled Healing Potions, and took it to the center table with me. Hunching over the book I scanned through the index to find a potion that might help my mother.

Sleeping Draught

Cure for Boils

Skele-Gro

Wiggenweld Potion

There were hundreds of healing potions. I had heard of many of them from my years in Potions class with Snape and Slughorn, but there were still loads that were new to me. 

“Do you know of any potions that might help my mum?” I asked Draco, while still scanning the list of potions.

“Well,” he thought for a moment. “There’s the Pepperup potion but-”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It makes steam dribble from the drinkers ears for hours after.”

“It might help her warm up,” he pondered.

“She warmed up over night. I was thinking more of something that would help her gain weight and increase her strength.”

“Hmm,” he paused again to think. “There’s the Vimes potion.”

“The what?” I lifted my head and looked at the boy in confusion. I had never heard of the Vimes potion.

“It’s kind of like the Pepperup potion, but stronger and instead of being used for colds, it’s used for more serious illnesses like the Black Cat Flu and Cerebrumous Spattergroit.”

“What’s it do?” I asked, wondering if this potion could help my mum. Draco stood and walked along the bookshelves for a moment, browsing the books. 

When he found the one he was looking for, he brought it over to me and flipped through the pages.

 

The Vimes Potion

The Vimes Potion is a healing potion used most commonly for the ailment of Mumblemumps (see page 394), however, it can be used to heal many other wizarding illnesses including the Black Cat Flu and Stinkitis. The combination of the Adder’s fork and the Newt’s spleen make it an extraordinary potion for curing malnutrition as well…

“It cures malnutrition! This is perfect!” I hissed in excitement. Draco suppressed a small laugh and flipped a few more pages to the recipe.

1 Adder’s Fork  
2 oz. Bouncing Spider Juice  
5 Eel Eyes  
½ Newt’s Spleen  
9 oz. Rose Oil  
3 ½ Small Fairy Wings

I walked along the bookshelves that held the ingredients and collected them one at a time. As I did this, Draco lit and stoked the fire under the medium sized cauldron. 

As I brewed the potion that could save my mother’s life, Draco threw in helpful hints. 

“Slow your stirring a smidge.”

“Slice horizontally not vertically.”

“Drop them in one at a time.”

By the time the potion was the white color the book said it should be, my hands were stained with rose oil and smelled terribly of eel eye.

“It’s done,” I breathed. The air smelled like burning fairy wings, a smell I had come to recognize from having six years of potions with Seamus Finnigan.

“Alright, pour some into this bottle.” Draco held a glass bottle out to me and helped me poured the thick potion into it. I corked it and together we walked through the Manor back to my mum’s room.

When entered the room, the air was significantly colder than when I left and the silence unnerved me, crawling into my veins and chilling me into the bone, but why?

“Mum,” I called quietly to the woman buried in the blankets, my voice cracking, “I have a potion that will help you feel better.” My voice echoed around the room, and my stomach dropped into my shoes because something wasn’t right. I could feel it lacing through my veins like ice that was extinguishing and heat inside my body.

“Lizzie…” Draco trailed off, placing a hand on my shoulder. The small gesture was sweet and I would normally melt at his touch, but his touch suddenly felt like ice.

“Mum, wake up, I need you to drink this for me.” She made no effort to move or to acknowledge my presence in the room. “Mum?” I hurried to the side of the bed and kneeled on the floor, the floor cool on my knees. Upon placing my hand on my mum’s forehead, I discovered she was cold as ice, her face white as snow, and her lips blue as if she had frostbite.

“Liz…”

“Mum, wake up,” tears pricked at my eyes. I shook her shoulders gently. Her head lolled dangerously. 

“Lizzie, your mum is gone.” Draco said this soothingly, but the words stabbed at my heart like ice shards being driven into my chest with the force of a hundred thestrals, they splintered and cut me, slicing me apart. The chill spread throughout my body, starting in my chest and ending in my toes. I felt so cold, it was as if I had been dunked in glacial water. I suddenly hated Draco, because how could anybody be calm when the light of the world has disappeared, when the sky has fallen from the sky?

A scream more shrill than anything I had ever heard escaped my throat and echoed through the room. My sobs burst from my body, tearing me apart at the seams, and my heart - oh Merlin my heart - it ached and it ached and it ached. The potion bottle that was in my hand fell and shattered on the floor. Violent tremors wracked through my body, and my hands shook as I grabbed at my hair, grabbed at anything that would take me away from the truth. Draco might have been hugging me or he might have been trying to put together the pieces that had been torn from me. But I don’t think I can ever be repaired, because… because this is what dying feels like. 

My beautiful mother was dead. I would never see her clear blue eyes again sparkle with her mischievousness. Never hear her call me her little Bitsy again. Never shop with her along Shaftesbury Avenue wrapped in our winter clothes. Never see her smile glitter in the moonlight. Never hear her wonderful laugh ring through the air. For my beautiful mother was dead.

It was my fault she was dead. If I had killed Dumbledore earlier in the year, she wouldn’t have been kidnapped. It was my fault. All my fault.

Then came the pain. Worse than anything I had ever experienced. Worse than seeing Draco lying in a pool of his blood in the toilets. Worse than watching Dumbledore tumble to his death the night before. My heart was being cleaved from my chest. My lungs felt like they were being slashed to shreds from my gasping. My vocal chords were splitting from my screams. I was in agony and there was nothing I could do about it. 

I had lived to see the day the world ended.


End file.
